Shots Fired Into 2 Homes Owned by Blacks : Violence: Incidents come less than two months after one of the houses in Hawaiian Gardens was firebombed in an apparent racial attack.

Shots were fired into the homes of two Hawaiian Gardens families this week, less than two months after one of the houses was firebombed in an apparent racial attack.

Both families, tired of threats, taunts and racial graffiti, plan to move away, they said.

No one was injured in the shootings. But to the two African-American families, it was a clear message.

They are not wanted in this mostly Latino city, said Joyce Dennis, one of the victims.

In recent months, graffiti have appeared on at least three homes owned by African-Americans, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said. And when Cynthia Hayes’ house was firebombed in March, attackers spray-painted “we gonna shoot up your house and we don’t care if you got kids inside” on her front wall.

About 2 a.m. Thursday, three shots were fired at Dennis’ house on Clarkdale Avenue. She and her four children were sleeping when bullets struck the living room, kitchen and children’s bedroom.

Early Friday, shots were fired at Hayes’ house on South Seine Avenue, striking an aluminum window frame and the trunk of a car parked in the driveway. Earlier in the week, a friend of her daughter was told that the house would be bombed again, Hayes said.

FBI agents who investigated the March incident, when a Molotov cocktail was thrown into Hayes’ dining room, will investigate the shootings, Special Agent John Hoos said. A preliminary report on the firebombing was sent to the Department of Justice this week for an opinion on whether a hate crime occurred, Hoos said.

But Hayes and Dennis said an investigation is not enough to keep their children safe or to keep them in Hawaiian Gardens, where they said their children have endured racial taunts and physical attacks.

Two months ago, Hayes decided to stay and fight racial discrimination at the urging of her mother and boyfriend, who told her not to let the bigots win.

“But now I’m moving as far away from this area as I can,” Hayes said. “I don’t feel (police) are pressing the issue hard enough. Nothing has happened.”

Because there were no racial graffiti and no witnesses to the shooting, police suspect that it was simply a “crime of opportunity,” Sheriff’s Lt. Russ Rudin said. As of Friday, no detectives had been assigned to the case. He said he knew of no other recent shootings in the neighborhood.

“I’m just going to get my kids and get out of here,” Dennis said. “I’m scared, and I’ll be moving just as soon as I can.”

Deputies said they will increase patrols near the two houses, but both women are nervous. “I have to wait until I have enough money to move out,” Hayes said. “In the meantime, all I can do is stay here and pray for the best.”