Taking Their Streets Back

The people who live and work along a stretch of Western Avenue in South Los Angeles didn’t know Lois Gean Cole.

But when the 63-year-old woman was fatally shot Tuesday afternoon while waiting at a bus stop -- hit by a stray bullet authorities believe was fired by a gang member -- she became a symbol for a community fed up with violence.

Cole’s death comes little more than a month after a woman waiting in line for dinner at a fast-food restaurant several blocks away was shot in the head and killed in another crossfire incident.

On Wednesday, dozens of passersby and residents stopped by a makeshift memorial at the bus stop near the corner of 94th Street and Western Avenue, placing candles and teddy bears on a stoop and mourning the death of Cole, a stranger whose death had touched them.

“It was just so sad. You walk down the street and you see candles at every other corner,” said resident Shekese Lee, 30, who stopped by the memorial hoping to share a few words of encouragement with the victim’s family. “I am scared as I don’t know what.”

While the two high-profile killings have shaken the community, LAPD officials said the South Los Angeles area is not in the midst of a crime wave.

Det. Leo Kerchenske of the 77th Street Division said homicides were at their lowest level in years. So far this year, there have been 40 homicides in the division, compared with 43 during the same period last year, according to LAPD records. And that’s a big decline from a decade ago. Total violent crime in the division is down 22% this year.

Still, Kerchenske said he understood why the killings had caused so much fear and anger.

“It’s terrible when anybody gets murdered by indiscriminate gunfire,” he said.

Authorities believe Cole was hit by a bullet fired by one of two men who got into an argument near the bus stop around 1:30 p.m. The men exchanged words before one pulled out a gun and fired.

Both men are at large.

Officers have been unable to verify a local address for Cole and believe she may have been living with friends, said LAPD spokesman Kevin Maiberger. Family members in Arizona have been contacted and are expected to arrive in Los Angeles within a couple of days, he said.

“She was just a bystander caught between two foolish people who decided to take the law into their own hands,” said Daune Lawson, 73, owner of a carpet store next to where Cole was killed. Lawson was eating lunch in her office Tuesday afternoon when she heard the shots. She saw Cole lying on the ground and called 911.

“It’s just a loss. Nobody can afford to walk the streets anymore.”

Lawson has seen her share of prostitution, drugs and gang violence on the corner of 94th Street and Western Avenue since she opened her store there 28 years ago. She had bars installed on the windows after several break-ins. Now, Lawson said, it’s time for the community to work together to prevent such crimes.

“I’m fed up with the crime, I’m fed up with the guns getting in the hands of the wrong people,” she said. “I’m concerned about the young people -- who’s monitoring them? We need people converging and taking action.”

Many shared Lawson’s sentiments.

“To me, nobody cares anymore, but this is something I can’t get used to,” said resident Lisa Sibley, 35, who with her husband, Reginald, brought a bouquet to the memorial.

Though the couple didn’t know Cole, they were moved after hearing about her killing on TV. They decided to come out to show that some people in the community cared.

“I didn’t know the lady, but that was somebody’s mom,” Sibley said. “We have to do something about the gangs, they’re taking people’s lives and it’s not fair. We’ve worked too hard to come home at night and hear about it.”

The stretch along Western where the shooting occurred is a contrast of pastel-colored homes with manicured lawns mingled with boarded-up buildings and densely packed apartment complexes. The business district is lined with barbershops, coin laundries, fast-food restaurants, discount clothing stores and nail salons.

Last month, 20-year-old Kristine Estrella Tiongson was waiting in line with her fiance outside a Church’s chicken restaurant a few blocks away on Florence Avenue. A bullet that authorities said was fired from at least three blocks away hit her in the head. She died at a hospital the next day.

Authorities are searching for the assailant in that case.

As residents mourn the deaths of both women, some hope it might focus attention on the community’s gang problem.

Jesse Ward, a 61-year-old landscaper, said people now were reluctant help authorities solve gang crimes for fear of retaliation.

“We should protect each other, but I don’t see that happening on Western Avenue,” he said.

A steady stream of visitors came to the bus stop throughout the afternoon to pay their respects to Cole.

“I am here as if this was my own mother,” said Rojae Murray, who lives nearby.