Wild in the Streets

Armed youth gangs have long prowled the streets of east and south-central Los Angeles, terrorizing the poor neighborhoods and fighting bloody turf battles. But the violence during the past month has been especially lethal. In the bloodiest weekend in 17 years, nine people were shot dead and six wounded in a "drive-by" shooting, when gang members opened fire on youths arriving at a party. Five people were murdered in a matter of seconds. Still another shooting last Thursday brought the week's total to ten. The majority of the week's victims were innocent bystanders. Among them: a Hughes Aircraft worker and mother who sang in her church choir.

Though the Los Angeles police department has now assigned more officers to the violent neighborhoods in response to community outrage, police have little hope of ending the killing that took 216 lives last year. Says Sergeant Wes McBride, a longtime Los Angeles gang investigator: "It's typical for a kid to join the same gang his father belonged to. No matter how many people we put out there, we can't be on every block 34 hours a day."