Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Weekend's brazen gang shootings leave neighbors feeling helpless

By EMILIE RAGUSO
eraguso@modbee.com

last updated: April 17, 2008 08:26:12 AM

Gang-related shootings last weekend in Modesto and Turlock left a bystander dead and two gang members -- a 13-year-old boy and a man from Newman -- in the hospital, authorities reported.

The shootings were in public places: a street corner, near a gas station and outside a movie theater. Two of them happened during daylight hours. The surviving victims remain hospitalized.

Arrests have been made in one of the cases.

This year, Modesto has seen about 17 gang-related shootings targeting people, homes and cars, according to a preliminary report from the Central Valley Gang Impact Task Force. That's about half of the city's 33 shootings since January.

One of those shootings killed Chanthol Ouk, a former Mo-destan and father of four boys, ages 9 to 19, who was visiting over the weekend from Long Beach to celebrate the Cambo-dian new year. Police said Ouk, pronounced "oak," was an innocent bystander.

Brain Thach, 49, lives in the neighborhood where Ouk was hit Sunday. Thach said the shooting made him feel helpless and vulnerable.

"It happened very quickly," he said. "I'm not really prepared to protect myself. I don't know what I can do. I'm uncomfortable to go to work because I don't know what's going on in my neighborhood. Nobody's watching. People do not want to get involved."

Authorities say the recent shootings are cause for concern, although probably not a trend. Increased violence is normal this time of year, said Modesto police Sgt. Rick Armendariz, who supervises the Central Valley Gang Impact Task Force.

"We usually see a spike like this in the beginning of spring and summer," he said. "The evenings are longer. People are out, and younger kids stay out longer. With the weather better, it's not uncommon for us to see that spike in gang violence."

Overall, gang-related shooting statistics from January through March are slightly down from a year ago, with 13 this year compared with 19 in 2007. But with half of April remaining, and retaliations possible from last weekend's shootings, it's hard to say where the numbers will stand in a few weeks, he said.

"In the gang subculture, it's a constant struggle to build respect," Armendariz said. "They build their reputation on fear. What better way to build your reputation than to commit crimes? They know they get respect by the violence they create and the name recognition, which also comes through violence. It's not because they're all straight-A students. People are intimidated by them because of the violence they create."

More and more, Armendariz said, authorities are seeing younger kids joining gangs. Often, the children who are targeted come from homes in which parents each work two jobs to support the family. This, he said, leaves children without the mentoring and regulation they need. Gangs give kids a feeling of belonging and importance.

What children often don't realize, he said, is the family atmos-phere gangs promote usually doesn't hold up when trouble comes.

"They tell the kids, 'We love you, you're our brother,' " he said. "But when they do get arrested and go to prison, it's not their gang members who are visiting them. It's their parents. The false sense of love that gang members provide is short term."

Authorities also are seeing an increase in what Armendariz called "senseless violence."

Minor slights, real or perceived, are leading to assaults or shootings. Gang members often will interpret a simple stare or a small jostle as a sign of disrespect, he said. For example, a teenager was arrested April 1 after police said he shot someone over a disagreement about a puppy. He's in custody on suspicion of attempted murder.

"They don't understand the basics of anger management," Armendariz said.

Gang members seem more often to be carrying weapons, such as guns and even assault rifles, he said.

The task force is a federally funded countywide group that has members from local law enforcement agencies and the FBI. It works with the district attorney's office, the probation department, parole and the Modesto Police Department's Street Crimes Unit, as well as the Special Team Investigating Narcotics and Gangs from the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. The task force stresses a collaborative approach to combating gang violence and growth.

The agency is a clearinghouse for gang information from around the area. Local law enforcement agencies report all crimes that appear to be gang related to the task force.

Gang migration patterns require law enforcement agencies around the valley and into the Bay Area to share information, too. It's not uncommon, Armendariz said, for police in downtown Modesto on the weekends to find gang members from Hayward, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Madera or Merced.

"We know they do travel back and forth, maybe to see friends who are gang members or local relatives. We see that connection between the gang members. Law enforcement has to have those ties, too," he said.

Several neighbors who live near the corner where Chanthol Ouk was shot said they feel scared by his death and by the roving groups of youths that break into houses and cars on a nearly nightly basis.

But several neighbors further north, around the gas station where a 13-year-old was shot Saturday, seemed resigned to the violence in their west Modesto neighborhood. Two teenagers said shootings were too normal to make them worry. And 58-year-old Dennis Wilson, sitting on his shady porch Wednesday, had the same view.

"You can walk down the street and get shot," he said. "It's so common, we're used to it. If we could afford it, we'd move."

Bee staff writer Emilie Raguso can be reached at eraguso@modbee.com or 578-2235.