ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
Los Angeles police say they've made an arrest in yesterday's shooting at a crowded bus stop where the victims included both adults and children. Eight people were hit and authorities say it's amazing that no one was killed. Details about the suspect will be released later tonight.
As NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports, the shooting was part of a new violent streak playing out in the streets of L.A.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO: There was still fresh blood on the sidewalk on the corner of Vernon and Central Avenues as police prowled South Los Angeles looking for the shooter. The incident happened at a bus stop down the street from a middle school just as kids were getting out of class.
And they were just standing here at the bus stop.
Lieutenant RUBEN DE LA TORRE (Los Angeles Police Deaprtment): They were here on - in front of the Jack in the Box restaurant, either in front of the bus bench or walking into or out of the restaurant.
DEL BARCO: Right here where we're standing?
Lt. DE LA TORRE: Right here where we're standing.
DEL BARCO: At the crime scene, officer Ruben De La Torre described the suspect as a black man between 18 and 20 years old. Witnesses say he seems unfazed as he left after firing at the children and adults. De La Torre says the shooting was probably gang-related.
Lt. DE LA TORRE: The suspect used a 9mm handgun, we could tell by the casings. I know there were at least 16 that were fired, it could've been more. It appears also that the suspect was probably - intended to shoot somebody else and not the victims that were shot, but another party.
DEL BARCO: Two 11-year-old girls and a 49-year-old woman were hospitalized in critical but stable condition. Five others, including a 10-year-old boy and a 69-year-old man, were also treated for gunshot wounds.
(Soundbite of police siren)
DEL BARCO: It was just the latest brazen daytime shooting to happen on L.A. streets on recent days. Last week in the northeast part of the city, tensions between the Avenues and Cypress gangs led to a gun battle with police. Police ended up killing one man and wounding another.
Back in South L.A., the scene of yesterday's shooting, black and Latino residents say they're fed up.
Mr. MUGUEL LUGO(ph) (L.A. Resident): I was watching the soccer game and I heard like 13 or 15 - I don't know, but like fireworks, I don't know - bam, so loud.
DEL BARCO: Twenty-year-old Miguel Lugo lives just blocks from yesterday's crime scene.
Is that something that happens around here?
Mr. LUGO: Yeah, very often. Yes. If it is not here, it's around the corner or the other street. Always, like, we're very scared to just, you know, be at night walking around and - because we know that this is a dangerous hood - neighborhood.
Ms. TOMASA GUTIERREZ(ph) (L.A. Resident): (Speaking in Spanish)
DEL BARCO: Tomasa Gutierrez saw wounded children running back to the nearby middle school in the wake of the gunfire. She says she grabbed a 12-year-old girl who was shot in the hand and went with her to the hospital.
Ms. GUTIERREZ: (Speaking in Spanish)
DEL BARCO: We fear for our lives, says Gutierrez, especially for the young people.
(Soundbite of car honking)
Mr. ISAAC JOHNSON(ph) (L.A. Resident): Always hectic. It's hectic around here.
DEL BARCO: Thirty-eight-year-old Isaac Johnson, who's lived here all his life, says residents are always asking for more police protection.
Mr. JOHNSON: It's like a daily routine, and the police station's right down the street.
DEL BARCO: And they can't control the neighborhood?
Mr. JOHNSON: They can't do crap.
DEL BARCO: Since January, there have been five homicides in the neighborhood, Officer De La Torre says that's discouraging, since overall in the city, the LAPD reports that crime is down.
Lt. DE LA TORRE: We've done such great work here. We've really been able to reduce a lot of the incidence of gang violence over - especially last year when we initiated the gang initiatives. I think what it shows is that we just - there's more work to be done.
DEL BARCO: Not only by the police department, he says, but by social service programs that are needed in the most violent parts of L.A.
Mandalit Del Barco, NPR News.
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