Surge in Gang Violence Prompts Community Action : Crime: Business and neighborhood leaders searching for ways to end bloodshed. Two killed, nine wounded in latest incidents.

Angry and frightened by a recent surge in gang violence, dozens of business, neighborhood and minority leaders have begun meeting to find ways to end the bloodshed.

Although police statistics show that overall crime is down this year, last weekend alone two people were killed and nine injured. Most of the incidents were drive-by shootings and were attributed to a war between Asian and Latino gangs, police said.

After a gunman opened fire Tuesday on mourners, killing one youth and wounding five others, Long Beach real estate agent Frank Colonna called together about 30 representatives of business and neighborhood associations.

“If we don’t do something, after a while, people will start thinking that (these shootings are) normal,” said Colonna, president of the Belmont Shore Business Assn.

The group included leaders from Belmont Shore, Alamitos Heights, Bixby Knolls, Naples, 7th Street, east Long Beach and a Cambodian association.

At their first gathering Wednesday, Supt. Carl A. Cohn of the Long Beach Unified School District said he will work to keep campus playgrounds and libraries open after school.

“With the help of police and schools, we will gradually take back what we are slowly losing,” Colonna said.

Community leaders said they would like retired teachers and others to volunteer as tutors and coaches. They also want to encourage local businesses to donate materials to the schools and have neighborhood watch groups in the eastside help neighborhood watch groups in areas with more crime.

“We’re taking it one step at a time. The best resource we have is people,” said Colonna, who plans to hold the next meeting in central Long Beach in January.

Meanwhile, Latino, Asian-American and African-American leaders have met almost weekly since Oct. 30. Concerned over the war between Asian and Latino gangs, the group is looking at ways to stop the killings, said Mary J. Bradley of the Federation of Filipino-American Assns.

On Thursday, members of the Asian and Hispanic advisory committees to Police Chief William C. Ellis met with him to discuss the continuing violence. Afterward, Bradley said the minority leaders plan to meet with Colonna’s group.

“We’re going to try to get together. So far you have all these different groups meeting individually,” Bradley said.

Despite the recent shootings, the number of such crimes is down from last year, according to police statistics. As of Dec. 1, there were 222 drive-by shootings and 42 gang-related homicides in the city, compared to 319 drive-by shootings and 44 gang-related homicides for all of 1991, police said.

Bradley said despite the statistics, there is a sense in the community that violence is increasing.

Sandy Blankenship, president of the Cambodian Business Assn., said she doesn’t feel safe outside her office on Anaheim Street.

“I work late lots of times. We have a parking lot and a nice building, but there are gangs all around,” Blankenship said. “Two days ago, a staff member had a gun pointed at him while he was walking to his car. And it was in the morning.”

Blankenship attended the meeting in Belmont Shore on Wednesday afternoon and said she hopes neighborhood groups from the eastside will help the crime-plagued north and westside areas find ways to reduce the violence.

“It’s still all Long Beach,” Blankenship said. “If Anaheim (Street) has lots of gangs, they might go next to Belmont Shore.”

Andy Andrews, president of the Alamitos Heights Improvement Assn., said that residents in the more affluent neighborhoods on the eastside are more afraid of crime. Suspected gang members sometimes gather in the peninsula, near million-dollar estates.

“That’s too close to home,” Andrews said. “It’s a shame that people can’t walk on the streets without being in danger of a line of fire.”

Highly publicized cases such as the one last Tuesday, when a gunman interrupted an after-funeral gathering, further tarnish the image of Long Beach, business and neighborhood leaders said.

In that shooting, a man walked up to mourners at 20th Street and Myrtle Avenue and opened fire, killing one youth who had earlier that day served as pallbearer and injuring five other teen-agers. The shooting, like several other violent incidents in the city recently, received widespread publicity.

“It’s tough enough in this city getting a business license, but if there are shootings, nobody will want to start a business,” said Andrews.

Police Cmdr. Stephen Bonswor, who is in charge of detectives, said he welcomes the increased community participation.

“One of the best answers (to tackling crime) is that the community has to become involved,” Bonswor said. “When they see a young man carrying a gun into the trunk of his car or into a house, they need to start treating it as if it were crack cocaine. Call in with an anonymous tip.”

Long Beach Crime Wave

Long Beach has experienced a recent rash of shootings, most of them gang-related. They include the following incidents: Nov. 27 * 10:02 p.m.: A man was struck by bullet from a passing car near 19th Street and Cerritos Avenue. Nov. 28 * Noon: A man working on his car was struck in the hip by a stray bullet in the 1900 block of East 10th Street as occupants of two vehicles exchanged gunfire. * 2:25 p.m.: A man was killed and a second man was injured when a suspected gang member opened fire on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, south of Anaheim Street. * 9:45 p.m.: Three people were wounded in a drive-by shooting in the 400 block of Crystal Court. Nov. 29 * 7:49 p.m.: A man walking to a liquor store was struck in the head by a bullet from a passing car at 19th Street and Atlantic Avenue. * 8:30 p.m.: Two men were struck by bullets fired by people standing across the street in the 400 block of Daisy Avenue. * 8:30 p.m.: A 15-year-old was killed when hit by bullets fired from a passing car in the 800 block of East Pacific Coast Highway. Police said the victim was not a gang member. * 9:19 p.m.: A woman was wounded in the lower back by a gunshot fired from a passing car in the 400 block of Locust Avenue. Monday * 4:38 p.m.: A man sitting in his car was struck by bullets from a passing car in the 2300 block of East 14th Street. Tuesday * 1:27 p.m.: A pedestrian was fired at by a group in the 1000 block of Atlantic Avenue but wasn’t hit. * 3:50 p.m.: A gunman fired into a group of mourners at 20th Street and Myrtle Avenue after a funeral, killing one and wounding five others. Wednesday: * 8 p.m.: A 17-year-old was killed and an 18-year-old was wounded after they and two companions had an argument with five youths at a pizza parlor at Palo Verde Avenue and Spring Street. * 11:30 p.m.: A man trying to stop a thief from stealing his car was shot three times in the chest in the 500 block of East Willow Street.

Source: Long Beach Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department