4 Killed, 5 Hurt in South L.A. Shootings

Another wave of shootings in South Los Angeles has left four people dead and five injured, continuing a string of violence in the area.

In the last month, at least four other people have been killed and 19 wounded by gunfire in the south and southwest areas of the city. Police say several factors may be involved, including hot weather, schools closing for summer vacation and gang initiation and retaliations.

“Last summer was bad, and things are already looking worse,” said Sgt. Rick Harris of the Police Department’s Southwest Division. “It’s going to be a long summer.”

Last summer, South Los Angeles had one of the worst spates of gang shootings in recent years. Gang homicides increased 116% last July over the same month the previous year, while drive-by shootings rose by 135%.

The latest series of killings began about 8 p.m. Saturday near the 5200 block of South Wilton Place. Tamile Cooper, 19, of Los Angeles was with several friends at a party when four unknown men approached the house and fired numerous shots at the group. Cooper, shot several times, died at a hospital.

Another woman and three men were also hit. All are expected to recover, said Police Det. George Diaz.

Mourning Cooper’s death at her home in the 5200 block of Gramercy Place on Monday evening, Frederick Pettaway, her step-uncle, and another man were shot and killed while standing outside.

An unidentified man approached them about 8:15 and fired, then fled in a black Chevrolet Camaro. A second man who had approached, an apparent accomplice, fled in a white car.

Family members fear the shooter staked out the house waiting for any of Cooper’s relatives to exit. Sandra Pettaway-Griffen, Pettaway’s sister and Cooper’s step-aunt, said some family members remembered seeing the suspects’ cars in the neighborhood. “My brother didn’t have to die like that,” said Pettaway-Griffen, 43, of Carson, who described him as a hard worker and devoted father. A limousine driver, he had two daughters, 16 and 19.

Pettaway-Griffen said Cooper was a full-time student at Southwest College.

Diaz said police are investigating the suspected connection between the shootings.

A third attack occurred about 7 p.m. Monday near Weems Elementary School in the 1200 block of West 36th Place.

Three boys, Charles Braden, Trey Von Lennan and Frank Jones, walked passed two unknown men while crossing an intersection. One boy looked back and saw one of the men draw a gun, said Police Det. B. Rogers.

The boys began to run. Braden, 15, was shot in the chest and died at the hospital. Another was shot in the leg and is expected to recover.

Rogers said that police were still investigating the incident, but that Braden was involved with an area gang.

An unrelated shooting in Long Beach on Sunday night left a single mother dead and two others wounded.

Graciela Zavala, 39, a mother of seven children, was talking with a neighbor and two teenage boys on her porch about 11:15 p.m. in the 700 block of East 7th Street when a man approached from a nearby alley and began shooting.

Zavala died at St. Mary’s Medical Center. The neighbor was shot in the shoulder, and one of the boys suffered a graze wound.

Zavala’s children range in age from 13 months to 20. Because her husband recently died, police said, family members are caring for their children.