Spate of Gang Slayings Claims Sixth Victim in Three Months

Police said Monday they had no suspects in the shooting of a 41-year-old man who died on an Oakwood neighborhood sidewalk early Sunday, the latest in an escalating string of incidents.

Officers responding to reports of gunfire found Peter Rangel, 41, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds at the corner of 6th and Brooks Avenues at 6:25 a.m. Sunday, said Det. Pete Waack of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Rangel, who police said was a longtime member of a Venice street gang, died at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center at 7:20 a.m. He was the sixth person killed in shootings that have plagued Venice and Mar Vista since June.

“We absolutely believe it’s a continuance of the violence that’s been going on in the last few months,” said Waack, who added that police do not know whether drugs, gang turf battles or other factors are behind the violence. “If anything’s consistent it’s that gang members are getting shot.”

A spokeswoman for City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter said Galanter is lobbying Mayor Richard Riordan to authorize LAPD overtime pay so that officers who know Oakwood well can be deployed there more often.