GANG WATCH : Gun Play

Eleven-year-old Cristal Anguio was shot through the heart. As her life ebbed, this shy fifth-grader somehow summoned the strength and the courage to drag her 2-year-old brother to safety, away from the firing of rival gangs. She collapsed only when they reached their house.

The shooting took place Sunday afternoon half a block from the children’s home in South-Central Los Angeles.

Cristal, a student at South Park Elementary School, had been warned repeatedly by her parents to be careful when she played outside. But even they could not have guessed that going to an ice cream truck waiting at the curb would almost cost the girl her life.

Cristal is hospitalized after lifesaving surgery at Martin Luther King/Drew Medicial Center. Doctors are hoping for a full recovery.

It is certain, unfortunately, that because this incident occurred in South-Central Los Angeles many people will view it as somebody else’s problem. But the danger of firearms knows no geographic boundaries: In the last year, children have been targets of gun violence at home, at schoolyards, on athletic fields, on a school bus.

Gun violence is out of control in the Los Angeles area. Those who think that their child could not be a victim of this type of random crime ought to think again. It can happen anywhere . . . and it has.

When one child catches a bullet--in South-Central or any area--that is one child too many. How many more before this entire community says “enough”?

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Shooting victim misidentified: Cristal Flores Aguiano is the correct spelling of the victim’s name.

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