Rash of Violence Claims 8 in South-Central L.A.

While the nation’s eyes are on the bombing of Iraq, another armed conflict is raging in South-Central Los Angeles.

Eight people have been shot to death in the area patrolled by the LAPD’s South Bureau since Sunday, and police believe most of the killings stem from gang rivalries. An assault-rifle attack Wednesday night left four wounded and a 16-year-old boy dead at Florence and Normandie avenues.

The intersection became known worldwide when Reginald O. Denny was pulled from his truck there and beaten on live television during the outbreak of the 1992 riots.

A drop in crime had given residents at least a temporary respite from spectacular violence. Homicides for the first 11 months of 1998 in the South Bureau area were down about 40% compared to the same period of 1997. The bureau covers most of Southwest and South-Central Los Angeles--where all of this week’s killings occurred--as well as San Pedro.

But the shaky peace was shattered this week, apparently as rival gangs began fighting for supremacy in the area, investigators said.

The violence began about 1 p.m. Sunday, as a 16-year-old boy was standing in front of his home in the 2200 block of Southwest Drive. Three men drove up in a sport utility vehicle and shot him several times in the upper body.

The youth, who police said was a gang member but whose identity was not available, died about 30 minutes later at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center.

Four hours later, Darryl Lamont Caviness, 31, was talking with friends on the sidewalk in front of an apartment building in the 1800 block of 64th Street. Two men walked up to the group about 5:30 p.m. and shot Caviness, who died at King/Drew, police said.

Wednesday’s slayings began just before 10 a.m. Benson Harris, 42, and Derrick Bowie, 34, were standing on the sidewalk in front of an apartment building in the 6000 block of 10th Avenue when a man walked up to them and opened fire, killing both.

That attack was followed--about 12 hours later and two miles away--by the Florence and Normandie shootings. About 9:15 p.m., five teenagers were standing in front of a Normandie bungalow about a block south of Florence when they were cut down, apparently by gunfire from one or more assault rifles. Neighbors said they heard a burst of 15 to 20 shots.

The five youths--four male and one female--were taken to nearby hospitals. One, Dwight Blanton, died shortly afterward, police said.

All of the shootings are believed to be gang-related, and detectives are still investigating whether and how the incidents might be linked.

Along with the five gang-related slayings, three other people were shot to death in the area this week. Police said they believe that those killings arose from drug deals.

On Monday, four men were shot in a house in the 100 block of East 81st Street. Police said the gunfight sprang from a drug robbery about 6:20 p.m. Javier Garcia Chavez, 27, died at the scene. Rafael Gaona, 26, died at a nearby clinic, where he and others had fled after the shooting.

Miguel H. Arreola, 25, was shot to death Tuesday about 11 a.m. in an apartment in the 1900 block of Florence.