After recent violent incidents in Watts that injured nine and claimed two lives, community leaders have decided something must be done.
“We done hit bottom, everybody,” said Cynthia Mendenhall at a news conference in the neighborhood on Tuesday. The former gang member, who has lost loved ones to gang violence, said it was evident in the fact that family members couldn’t even be sure of their safety when crossing certain streets to pay respect to fallen loved ones.
Leaders have now called on Watts residents not to congregate in large groups for the rest of 2023.
“It’s time for peace,” gang interventionist Michael Cummings said at Tuesday‘s news conference standing alongside community and clergy leaders and officials with Los Angeles’ Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development and the Los Angeles Police Department.
“It’s time for our children to be able to play outside, be able to walk to and from school safely,” Cummings said. “Because we want to make sure that our kids grow up to be doctors and lawyers and police officers and firefighters.”
Maybe one will even become president of the United States, Cummings said as he appealed to the community to come together to find a solution. It’s about safety, he stressed: “This isn’t a color thing.”
The impassioned calls for “unity within the community” arrived on the heels of two shootings that killed two and injured nine near the Imperial Courts and Jordan Downs public housing projects, according to LAPD Deputy Chief Emada Tingirides. She told The Times that law enforcement agencies were investigating the recent shootings.
In the meantime, Cummings and his peers on the Watts Gang Task Force determined it’s best for Watts families to avoid big crowds and large gatherings for the remainder of the year.
A group of at least nine men were seen on a video posted on Twitter sprinting out of the store around 3:10 p.m. Monday. The LAPD confirmed a robbery took place at a store at Westfield Century City mall.
Fernando Rejón, executive director at the nonprofit Urban Peace Institute, said task force members met with Mayor Karen Bass; her deputy mayor of public safety, Brian Williams; and Tingirides ahead of the announcement to discuss the shootings and the resources needed to ensure the safety of residents.
Attendees were told during Tuesday’s briefing that both of the incidents involved lone gunmen. Disrespectful posts on social media likely fueled some of the shootings, which Rejón says is a trend that has picked up in other major cities across the country in recent years. He blames social media and online “rumor mills” that help disrespectful messages feed into a larger conflict.
These posts, Rejón said, are “pouring gasoline on situations” that in the old days might have otherwise fizzled out without bloodshed.
He noted LAPD statistics showing that the number of shootings and homicides was down citywide but that some areas, including Watts, continued to bear the brunt of violence.
“The safety numbers that are reflected citywide don’t necessarily reflect our reality,” he said.
Mendenhall spoke with The Times before Tuesday’s news conference as she watched children of Imperial Courts play in the summer sunshine.
Mendenhall, now called “Big Mama” but known as “Sister” when she was a gang member, lost both her sons months apart. Anthony Wayne Owens Jr. was shot Aug. 30, 2006, in a drive-by shooting in the 2000 block of East 115th Street inside the Imperial Courts housing project. His brother, Darin Cole, reportedly took his own life after a police pursuit Dec. 9, 2006.
Fueled by the memories of her children and other loved ones who died tragically, Mendenhall now runs a program for children from broken families at Imperial Courts. Despite such efforts, she said “a death angel” continued knocking on the doors of families throughout Watts.
In a statement, Bass promised that, “through collective action,” the city would work diligently to ensure Watts youth and their families were safe as they prepared for the start of school in a few weeks.
City Councilmember Tim McOsker, who represents the area, said the city would find solutions by turning to the leaders standing behind him at the news conference.
“This community — the community of Watts — is together,” McOsker said. “We’re together for peace, and we will not stand for violence in our community.”
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