Violence Jeopardizes Crowded Teen Dances

A fight outside a high school dance and a shooting less than a block away Friday night may put an end to popular teen-age dances in East Long Beach, school officials said.

The Friday night dances at the Bruin Den, a recreation center on 7th Street near Wilson High School, draw hundreds of youngsters. Last week, officers showed up in force and stopped the party after violence erupted outside.

Officials of the Long Beach Unified School District are considering stopping the supervised dances, which are geared to give teen-agers an alternative to alcohol-oriented parties, said Jerry Gross, a district area superintendent.

It is the dances’ popularity that may lead to their demise.

More than 100 students were barred from entering the Bruin Den on Friday because the room was already crowded with at least 400 teen-agers, authorities said. Michael W. Menephee, 18, who was not allowed in, threatened a woman volunteer around 10:45 p.m., police Sgt. Linda Fierro said. When reserve police Officer Chuck LaReaux intervened, Menephee swung at him, giving the officer a black eye and a swollen lip, Fierro said. Police arrested Menephee, whom Gross said is not a Long Beach student.

About half an hour later, another teen-ager was shot a block away as he walked on 7th Street, near Park Avenue. Myerere Waller, 17, said he had attended the dance and was heading back to the Bruin Den to get keys from a friend when he heard three gunshots.

“I knew I was shot. I felt the bullet hit me,” Waller said Wednesday before being released from St. Mary Medical Center. “I ran toward the police. They told me to back off and I said, ‘But I got shot.’ I took my T-shirt off to show them. They told me to put my hands on the car and they patted me down.” After finding no weapon, Waller said police called an ambulance.