2 Men Killed in Shooting on Street in South L.A.

A suspected gang member opened fire on a South Los Angeles street Thursday morning, killing a young man who was entering a house and a disabled man who was sitting on the front steps, chatting cheerfully with passersby.

Police said that after firing eight to 10 shots that left the mortally wounded men sprawled beside the sidewalk in the 600 block of East 79th Street, the gunman fled in a black sport utility vehicle apparently driven by an accomplice.

The dead men were identified as Clifton Jerome Adams, 24, known to neighbors as “boss man,” and Antonio Wingate, 46, a neighborhood favorite described by a friend as the sort of man “who wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

A neighbor, Maria Elena Luevano, 24, was grazed in the left shoulder by a stray bullet but did not require hospitalization, police said.

Police said the motive for the shootings was unclear, although they suspect some sort of gang dispute. Neighbors speculated that the argument was with Adams, and that Wingate might have died because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Witnesses said that as Adams and another man, who has not been identified, walked down the quiet, tree-lined residential street toward Wingate’s home about 8:30 a.m.--moments before the shooting--Adams was talking about a sport utility vehicle that seemed to be following him.

John Gobin, 48, who lives down the block, said Wingate was sitting on his steps, as he often did on sunny mornings, “just saying hi to everybody.”

Gobin said Wingate had been severely disabled by a stroke.

“Everybody loved him.” Gobin said. “He didn’t have no enemies. He was just a handicapped man, trying to enjoy life.”

None of the neighbors who gathered outside the home Thursday afternoon saw the shooting, but Gobin said he heard the shots and ran to the Wingate home, where he found both victims lying in blood, about five feet apart.

“Tony opened his mouth to say something, but the words just wouldn’t come out,” Gobin said.

Gobin said he turned to Adams, who reached out, grabbed his hand and said, “Help me” before losing consciousness.

“I went back to Tony and said, “Tony, you’re going to be all right,”’ Gobin said. “But he wasn’t all right.”

Wingate died at the scene. Adams was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Neighbors brought balloons, flowers and candles Thursday afternoon to create a small shrine on the bloodstained pavement in front of Wingate’s home.

Police said no suspects had been identified.

The deaths Thursday continued a surge in violent crimes in the city. There were 266 homicides in Los Angeles between Jan. 1 and July 7, a 30% increase from a year ago.