Violent Sign of the Times Puts Sports in Perspective

On Jan. 11, Kenyon Rambo left Long Beach Poly High to finish a class term paper and get ready for the football team’s annual banquet later that evening. He stopped at a store to pick up his favorite flavored water.

When he pulled his mother’s Mercedes-Benz into a shopping center along Artesia Boulevard in Lakewood, Rambo noticed a car following him. When he came out of the store, Rambo said he saw one of the men from the car approaching him. When he tried to drive away, the man shot him with a semiautomatic pistol, police said.

“I didn’t know who the guy was or why he was following me,” said Rambo, an accomplished football and track athlete. “I think he probably wanted my mom’s car.”

Rambo said he raised his arms when the gun was pointed at him, and the bullet entered the left side of his chest and came out the middle of his back. He was able to drive away from the scene and park the car a few blocks away. A bystander came to his aid and called 911.

Before he knew it, Rambo said he was in an operating room at Long Beach Memorial Hospital. A surgeon removed the bullet from his back and told him it was lodged three inches from his spine; contact with the spine could have resulted in paralysis. He spent the night at the hospital and returned to school the following Monday.

Poly, like a growing number of Southland schools, has become increasingly aware of gunfire in its area. The mood is always somber each time there is such a violent occurrence, and there was relief among teachers and students when word got out that Rambo was expected to fully recover.

The news of Rambo’s incident was particularly hard to take. He is the latest in a long line of family members to attend Poly, and the 17-year-old junior is well liked by his peers and the faculty.

“Kids today grow up with the reality that when people get mad at you they can take your life,” said Poly football Coach Jerry Jaso, who graduated from the school in 1968. “I don’t know how they deal with that kind of fear.”

Rambo, 6 feet 2 and 185 pounds, describes his shooting as a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As of Wednesday, no arrests had been made in the case.

“I’ve been to parties that have been shot up, and I’ve seen guns pointed at other people,” said Rambo, expected to be one of the Southland’s most recruited athletes next year. “But I’ve never had anybody put a gun in my face. It really opens up your eyes and lets you know how careful you have to be out there.”

As a result of the shooting, Rambo missed the football banquet, where he was to receive accolades as a versatile receiver and kick return specialist who helped lead Poly to the semifinals of the Southern Section playoffs.

The incident also has affected his performance on the track. Rambo is off to a slow start after finishing second in the 110-meter hurdles at the state meet last year as a sophomore. He finished sixth in the event at the Arcadia Invitational last Saturday and hopes to improve his time at the Mt. San Antonio Relays Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

After the race at Arcadia, Rambo sat with his head in his hands and acknowledged it had been one of his worst efforts in a long time. He also said he is about a month behind in his training because of the shooting.

His parents, Cedric and Juanita Rambo, made their son take it easy after the shooting. He skipped the indoor track season and hasn’t been at full strength in the early part of the outdoor season.

Athletics, however, seem less important these days.

Rambo and his parents regularly attend church on Sunday, something they didn’t do before the shooting.

“I’ve got a lot to be grateful for,” said Rambo, who is reminded of the incident every time he looks in the mirror and sees the bullet scars.

Said Cedric Rambo: “Things are a lot different than when I grew up. Kids today have to survive in a more violent society. Kenyon is our only child, and it’s our duty to protect him.”