Shooting Reflects Change in Cafe Tradition, Some Say : Crime: Police say there is no evidence to support their earlier statement that the Westminster attack, which left 1 dead, was gang-related.

For years, the coffee shops in Little Saigon were neighborhood haunts where elders, poets and everyday people met to swap stories over cups of chilled coffee.

But after a weekend shooting at the Cafe Mozart that left one young man dead and three other people wounded, some in the Vietnamese community fear that the traditional gathering places are attracting a different kind of customer. “Now you go into a lot of the coffee shops and most of the people don’t have a job, no skills and are very depressed--especially young people,” said Andrew Hoang, spokesman for the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce in Westminster. “It just takes a few seconds for someone to think about pulling a gun . . . because someone is staring at their girlfriend or they had some argument.”

Just before midnight Saturday, two gunmen strode into the crowded Cafe Mozart at 7915 Westminster Blvd. and opened fire. Le Quan Nguyen, 20, of Garden Grove, was killed. A 16-year-old boy, whom police did not identify, was shot in the back and is paralyzed. He remains in critical condition at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Two 19-year-old women, one shot in the elbow and the other in the knee, were treated at Garden Grove Medical Center.

Both suspects remained at large Monday and there were no new developments in the case, police said.

The shooting was initially characterized by police as gang-related because of the method of attack and the absence of an obvious motive.

But on Monday, authorities acknowledged that they had no hard evidence to support that claim. According to Police Lt. Mike Schliskey, ) police announced that the shooting was gang-related based upon a statement by the 16-year-old victim, who told investigators he thought one of the attackers might have been a gang member.

“It could very possibly be rival gangs involved, but we don’t know at this point,” Schliskey said Monday. Most of the 18 witnesses--including the victims themselves--have refused to cooperate with investigators, police said.

Councilman Tony Lam, a member of the city’s Partnership in Crime Prevention Task Force, disputed authorities’ earlier assertion that the attack was gang-related.

“This is merely speculation based on hearsay from the boy himself,” Lam said. “Until I get hard evidence, I can’t draw the conclusion that it was gang-related.”

Lam said he believes the city’s gang problem is decreasing.

“I think this is an isolated case,” he said. “These were young, uncontrolled people working on hot temperament.”