Shooting Leaves One 19-year-old Man Dead, Another in the Hospital

Los Angeles:  On May 7, 2011, at around 12:45 a.m., officers from the LAPD’s Northeast Division responded to an “Ambulance Shooting” radio call in the 2000 block of Isabel Street,in Cypress Park.  

When the officers arrived, they saw two, 19-year-old men with multiple gunshot wounds.The first victim, Jose Madera was pronounced dead at the scene by Los Angeles City Fire Department personnel. The second victim was transported to a local hospital for medical treatment and is expected to survive. The suspects responsible for the murder and attempt murder ran away from the scene in an unknown direction.   

The motive for this murder appears to be gang related.    

Detectives from Northeast Division are investigating the shooting incident and are asking for the public’s help to provide information that may lead to the identity and whereabouts of the murder suspects. Anyone with information is asked to call Detectives L. Lenchuk or H. DiCroce at 213-847-4261. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crimestoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.  All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to www.LAPDOnline.org, click on "webtips" and follow the prompts.

Comments

[gaby]

It is not gang related stop assuming just because of the location you need proof if you're going to go out and say that.

[Curtis Lemanski]

Gaby, they say "appears to be gang-related." Appears to be usually refers to the suspect's MO, perhaps the suspect said something, possesses descriptors that may lead one to believe he is a gang-member, or the victim is a gang member, the location is gang related.....etc, etc. They don't "need proof." They do the best with what they have. If YOU know it is not gang-related, then I assume you know what is behind the incident and have cooperated fully with the investigation....somehow I doubt it.

[Mother in fear]

I've lived in the neighborhood for several years. I have seen these kids grow up since they were in elementary. Good kids, just trying to live a normal life. Maybe dressing inappropiately, but not gang related.
I wonder if the police department is so jaded with what they see on a daily basis to really investigate what is going on. Will the LAPD allow our young men to keep dying, because of preconceived notions. Jose Madera was not a gang member nor was the other kid who was shot. I think that as a community we need to hold our leaders and civil servants accountable for what they allow to happen in our streets. Is the value of the lives of the kids in our neighborhood less because of the gangs??? I know for a fact that the family of Jose Madera has contacted the detectives involved and have been meet with nothing but cold shoulders, no answers and disregard. I write this out of frustration, confusion and fear that my son might meet the same fate because the police isn't doing it's job.

[Curtis Lemanski]

Maybe there are no answers because people in the area who have watched these kids grow up since they were in elementary don't call the police when there are problems and when something happens they don't cooperate with the police. The police do not have a crystal ball where they can peer into it and see what happened and who did it. This isn't the move "Minority Report." EVERY homicide, whether gang-related or not, is exhaustively investigated. Granted, high-profile murders and crimes DO get more resources. I hate to say it, but it's reality. Nevertheless, even "gang-related" murders have detectives pounding the pavement almost non-stop from the time it happens until the trail runs cold.

Just because Jose may not have been a gang-member, it doesn't mean the ones who shot him were not. Mother, nobody has said he was. Or, if they have, maybe this is just one of those cases where the parents REALLY don't know what their young, innocent child is REALLY doing with his life.
If you're really worried "the police isn't doing it's job"....there's the freeway and I'm sure you have a car. Iowa is a lot safer.

[Mobther in fear]

Mr. Lemanski,

Your attitude is very ill. Instead of making this blog productive and engaging, your taking a defensive position. No one said that this was a movie or that the police have crystal balls. But as member of this community and a friend of the family that has just lost their son, I need to question why the crime in my neighborhood has increased rather than decreased.

Rather than asking me to move to Iowa, which I'm sure there is crime there as well. I say we work together. It's people like you Mr.Lemanski that give the police department a rep for being insensitive.

I have always been a person who respects officers and what they stand for, but if people in my neighborhood refuse to help the police with information is because of fear. Fear, Mr. Lemanski is what makes people not cooperate, not ignorance, not selfishness but fear.

I hope that the detectives do pound the pavement like you say and capture these monsters. That's the only thing that matters right now.

[citizen]

"the police isn't doing it's job" Education!!!!!!!!! Drastically needed here, huh.... Mother in fear?

[Best Friend]

First of all my best friend Jose Madera wasnt a gang member and if he was it wouldnt affect the investigation that you as police men should put all your efforts in.Second of all we have shown nothing but help towards the investigation. i would like to understand why the giants fan has been shown such loyalty towards his situation when hes still alive and my best friend is dead and my other best friend is terribly hurt from inside and out. im not asking for any special favors or handouts but i would like to see a cop do his job he signed up for. third of all curtis lemanski instead of helping any situation your being insensitive to the situation instead of directing someone who is asking for help to iowa make the city of LOS ANGELES safer. dont think this murder is going to go away becuase ima do everything in my power to make sure the LAPD does there job. this isnt a threat niether a dispute its a person who came up from the same place as Jose Madera explainging myself for you as a human being to understand that our lives count as much as a millionaire.

[Curti Lemanski]

Mother,

I agree. Let's work together. So you will (and you will encourage your neighbors) to cooperate and call the police to make your neighborhood safer. You will not be an enabler to friends/family/ acquaintances who are gang-members. This means you will not give them money, a couch to sleep on, let them borrow a car to drive, etc. When your neighbor's kid who has chosen the wrong path and IS in a gang turns 18, encourage your neighbor to throw him out. Turn your back on them, whether or not he's your son or not. If your neighbor refuses, call the police (anonymously) every time that gangster is out on the sidewalk drinking beer or tagging the light-pole.

You all but admit your neighborhood does not help the police "out of fear." I won't beat a dead horse. Cops can't do their job without citizens who provide information. Refer back to my above post.

Your post points the finger at the LAPD ("will the LAPD allow our young men to keep dying"). Are the officers who patrol your area jaded? I don't know. I don't know them. Maybe. Maybe because they knocked on your neighbors doors dozens of times over the years and have been met with "I didn't see anything." Maybe they knocked on YOUR door and you told them the same thing. Maybe they brought your neighbor's kid home after catching him with a can of spray-paint, only to be accused of racial profiling and harassing kids. Just some possibilities.

And if you know "for a fact that the family of Jose Madera has contacted the detectives involved and have been meet with nothing but cold shoulders, no answers and disregard"...please give specifics. It's unfair to hurl insults at the men and women investigating this crime without giving a specific example. They probably read this blog. Maybe your community can come up with $200,000 to get the suspects' friends to "snitch" on them.

It seems to mean it is the police department that repeatedly reaches out to the community, and subsequently "gets the cold shoulder." Again, without witness statements and cooperation, how do you expect the detectives to solve this?

ONE MORE TIME: nobody is saying Jose was a gangmember. Maybe, as "a young man trying to live his life but dressed inappropriately", as you describe, caused some REAL gang-members to mistake Jose for one.....hence the possibility this crime is "gang-related."

Why has crime increased in your neighborhood? Ask city council. Ask the police commission. Ask them why so many sworn officers are in administrative positions and not out keeping you safe. Ask why they are on forced days off so the city doesn't have to pay them overtime, but yet the city council has over 30 million dollars in "discretionary funds" to be blown in their districts however they please.

The police cannot raise your kids, Mother. They can't say "don't dress like that, shave your head like that, or someone may mistake you for a gang-member and you could get hurt." That's your job. If that fits your son's description, and you disapprove, I hope he's not walking around with an iphone or ipod you bought for him. Your job would be to say: I don't like how you dress, groom yourself, walk, talk, who you hang out with, so I'm not buying you anything but clothes from Target because you can't go to school naked.

It's real easy to come on this blog and say "the detectives aren't doing their job." In some cases, you may literally be right because they have to take time off to avoid that overtime. But to say they do not care, as you imply, is absurd.

And Best Friend: the Giants fan is shown so much "loyalty" because of MONEY. Period. It's not right, but that's the way it is. Almost any crime can be solved if you put enough resources into the investigation. However, resources are not unlimited and therefore things are prioritized. That does not mean your friend's murder is deemed unimportant. The detectives on that case, I guarantee you, are chomping at the bit to get that one piece of evidence to find the suspects who did it. You are also implying the police aren't doing their jobs. Some concrete examples please? I don't think Mother was asking for help, she was trying to lay the blame for the collective parental failure in the area squarely at the feet of the police department. And on the contrary, Best Friend, I am telling "someone who is asking for help" how to make Los Angeles safer. It's up to you all to heed my advice.

I still don't understand what you expect the police to do. What have they done wrong? Please tell me. Tell me so I can understand your frustrations and fears. Vagueness and implied insults of apathy and laziness just because it hasn't been solved yet don't count.

In conclusion, the crime has already been committed, and there's nothing that can bring Jose back now. Hopefully, a lead will come through and the detectives will follow-up and break the case. In the meantime, I encourage all of you, from Gaby to Mother "in fear" to Best Friend, to be more proactive in reducing the crime in your neighborhood. Remember: information can be anonymous. We want the same thing. But just throwing up your hands saying "do something" to nobody in particular is futile.

[dissed]

What the heck is wrong with these community types? Cops risk their life and limb everyday they serve, but these ungrateful citizens still blame Cops for every evil and ill that afflicts their community. Example: Cops stop a car-load of youngsters with shaved heads and the locals get mad because they perceive injustice or racial profiling. You may stick your head in the sand and pretend you live in ideal conditions, but the reality is that the city of Los Angeles is infested with criminal activity. Gang-related or not. Gangs account for the vast majority of shootings. When are these people gonna learn and partner (support) with law enforcement to help prevent crime? The emphasis should be on preventing drive-by shootings, etc. Sure, catching the killers is important, but its too little too late for the victims. Sure, you can blame Ccps any way you like, but they did not randomly shoot and kill anyone in a drive-by.