Gang Shooting at Park Raises Fears for Little Leaguers : Oxnard: City seeks to improve security after parents express concern that young ballplayers may be caught in cross-fire.

The Sunset Little League’s season kicked off at Durley Park in Oxnard last weekend without a hitch, but parents say they fear that their children may be caught in the cross-fire of another gang shooting.

Little Leaguers were playing a practice game at Durley on March 18 when a gang-related shooting injured a 16-year-old boy in the hand, police said.

As Coach Tom Barber tells it, a shotgun-toting teen-ager approached a group of youths, who were not playing baseball, and fired a spray of pellets at one of them who ran toward a nearby apartment complex. The gunman then jumped into a waiting car and sped away before police arrived about five minutes later. Sgt. Denny Phillips said police have arrested a suspect.

Alerted to the parents’ concerns at last week’s City Council meeting, Oxnard officials are looking for ways to improve security at the park.

Police say Durley Park, at Hill and J streets, is a well-known hangout for a group known as the Surtown Gang. Police have been called to Durley 127 times in the past year, more than double the number of calls to any of the city’s 25 other parks, said police crime analyst David Keith.

Neighborhood residents say they hear gunfire periodically and worry about their children walking home from school through the park.

“It could become a little L.A., and that’s what we’re trying to prevent,” said Mike Bocanegra, a Sunset league vice president who has been playing ball at Durley since he was 8.

“Sooner or later, one of these kids is going to be hurt out there,” said Joe Johnson, an Oxnard police officer whose 10-year-old twins play in the league.

Barber, a former league president, said the kids seemed more curious than scared during the March 18 incident.

“They were playing and then when they heard the one shot, they looked around to see what was going on,” Barber said, adding that several police cars later drove onto the park lawn.

While they are not seen in great numbers, the Surtown Gang’s graffiti markings are scrawled on park buildings, reappearing shortly after league parents paint over them. Police have found ammunition as well as paint and glue containers for sniffing on top of the water tanks where gang members are known to congregate, Johnson said.

“The gang activity in the area is highly visible. . . . That’s a concern to all parents in the area,” said Romeo Solis, a Sunset coach and parent who has lived in the neighborhood all of his 34 years.

Lisa de la Rosa, whose 9-year-old boy plays in the Sunset league, conveyed such concerns to the City Council last week. Later, she said she plans to circulate a petition asking the city to either crack down on the gang problem or move the league to a less dangerous field.

“These little ones, we’re trying to keep them out of trouble,” De la Rosa said of the 6- to 13-year-olds who play Little League. “These little kids are just trying to play ball.”

At Councilman Michael Plisky’s suggestion, the council directed city staff to look into the gang problem at Durley Park and come up with a way to ease parents’ minds.

Police Lt. Jeff Young said recommendations are being compiled to be passed along to the city manager’s office. One suggestion is to make the park less attractive to gang members by increasing lighting.

Parents say they are also worried that their children’s attention will be drawn away from baseball and toward gang activities.

“My concern is, with these kids down at the park seeing what’s going on, they may think this is the thing to do,” Barber said.

Bocanegra, the league vice president, has similar fears. “If their friends are gang members, it’s hard to come out and play ball when you’re getting the pressure,” he said.

Despite his apprehension about the gang activity, Coach Tony Torres does not want to remove his four boys from the league. “I’m not going to pull them out, because they love to play,” he said.

So does 9-year-old Daniel de la Rosa. What goes on in the rest of the park does not seem to worry him too much. “They won’t hurt me unless I’m dressing hard,” said Daniel, describing the gang uniform of all-black attire.

Daniel added that he has no interest in joining a gang. “I’ll get shot,” he said.

Garrett Johnson, 10, said he is a little scared by the gang members at the park. But his twin brother, Michael, is more upset about what the gangs have done to his ball field.

“It’s just horrible to see this--the Nazi signs and all,” he said, pointing to the graffiti on a building behind the dugout. “It just ruins the whole thing.”