Residents blast mayor and council over gang violence

Mark Baylis:

A half-dozen community members, family and friends of a fatal shooting victim berated city officials Tuesday night at the City Council meeting for doing too little to curb gang violence following two weekend shootings.

Police have not confirmed that the shootings were gang-related or that they were linked. Still, residents told the council that gang violence is rising and the city hasn't done enough to stop it.

"People are getting shot, stabbed, they're getting beaten by bats," said resident Angie Ines. "Gang violence is getting out of control."

Ten residents expressed concerns or supported those who spoke. Many spoke in favor of a police proposal currently under court consideration for an injunction that would ban gang members from congregating in certain city areas.

Some put the blame squarely on Mayor Dick DeWees and the other council members.

"You know, Mr. DeWees, there has been a gang problem in the town for some time, so I'm putting the blame on you," said Robin Ramsey, whose grandchildren witnessed a shooting on June 18 outside her home. "You have got to do something. You are the mayor."

The outcry came after separate weekend shootings that left one man dead and another injured.

Richard Osborne Moore, 41, was shot Saturday evening while riding his bicycle near West Maple Avenue and North L Street. Police say he had no known gang affiliations and family and friends say he was shot by Hispanic gang members only for being black.

On Sunday, Ruben Gasca, 25, survived being shot in an apartment in the 700 block of North F Street.

Moore's daughter, Kyesha Dubey, tearfully told the council how gang members had tried to rip down a makeshift memorial for her father at the shooting site and had shouted, "It's just another dead nigger."

Dubey urged the council to voice support for the injunction, saying afterwards that if her father's death aided the passing of the injunction, at least he would not have died in vain.

Other residents came to recall their own encounters with gang violence.

Shaunta Branham, who said her father was once shot at in Lompoc for being black and her cousin and nephew attacked by gang members, said she is afraid to let her children outside to play.

"I see it as a race war - Mexicans versus blacks," Brown told the council. "I feel like, as a black woman, nothing is going to be done until you look at the seriousness of what's going on."

Race is central to the issue, according to attendees. Moore's family and friends said they believe the weekend incidents were related to gang rivalries between local Hispanic and black gangs, though police have not confirmed the shootings as either gang-related or linked.

Children witnessed shooting, beating