LOS ANGELES : Drive-By Shootings Follow Specific Pattern, Study Says

Drive-by shootings occur among specific gangs and in very predictable neighborhoods, according to a new study by USC doctors. The findings, reported in today’s New England Journal of Medicine, should help public health experts design better programs to prevent this type of violence, the researchers say.

The study, compiled from 1991 files of the Gang Information Section of the Los Angeles Police Department, show drive-by shootings to be a largely planned, systematic activity that usually involves black and Latino gang members. During that year, 677 adolescents and children in Los Angeles were shot at in a drive-by situation, and 63% of those were injured.

Though the results confirm what many Los Angeles residents already know, they are “important because if you can identify who it’s happening to, you can develop intervention programs to prevent it,” says Dr. Deirdre Anglin of County-USC Medical Center and a co-author of the study.

Among the study’s findings:

* Almost three-quarters (71%) of those shot were gang members.

* All 35 homicide victims were African American or Latino, and 97% were boys.

* Most people were shot on public streets and at night. Shootings took place in the most violent, gang-populated areas of the city, which were also the most economically deprived.

* The highest number of shootings were in summer months.