3 Die, 12 Hurt in Gang Action Despite ‘Truce’

Despite calls for a holiday truce, three people were killed and at least 12 others were wounded in yet another violent weekend of gang violence in Los Angeles, authorities said Sunday.

In one five-hour period late Saturday and early Sunday, six people were wounded in a series of shootings in areas just south of downtown, Los Angeles police detectives said.

“It’s been a real busy night, partner,” Police Sgt. Larry Wehage told United Press International.

Two suspected gang members, Roger White, 22, and William Stallings, 18, both of Pacoima, were arrested Sunday on suspicion of murder in the shooting of a 16-year-old boy who was struck in the head Friday while shopping for Christmas presents at the Panorama Mall in the San Fernando Valley.

The teen-ager, Sergio Alpuche of Van Nuys, died Saturday at Holy Cross Hospital.

Attack in Pacoima

Earlier in the day, a suspected gang member was fatally stabbed in an attack in Pacoima, police said.

Although the assailants escaped, detectives said the slaying appeared to be gang-related because the victim, whose name was withheld pending notification of relatives, had gang tattoos on his body.

The third fatality occurred Friday night, when a gang member identified as Terrance Carl Kennedy, 27, of Los Angeles was shot by rivals.

There were at least 236 gang slayings in Los Angeles in the first 11 months of this year, a 15% increase from the 205 gang killings in all of 1987.

In the areas patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, there have been 89 gang killings in the same period, compared to 79 in all of last year.

The death toll continued to mount despite a truce called by gang members who on Saturday, in a manifestation of the Christmas spirit, helped church and business leaders pass out food to the needy.

‘A New Awareness’

“Our objective is to . . . create a new awareness between the community and gang members,” said the Rev. Charles Mims Jr., who organized the truce and has spearheaded previous “peace summit” meetings between warring gangs.

In other violence:

- Gang members shot and wounded two rivals in the mid-city area about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Sgt. Joe Mueller said. One of the victims, who was shot in the head, was listed in critical condition.

- Two people were shot and wounded by rival gang members in South-Central Los Angeles about 11:35 p.m. Saturday, Lt. Doug Young said. Both victims were taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in serious condition.

- Two teen-agers, aged 15 and 17, were slightly wounded at 10 p.m. at a party in the same part of town. Wehage said the shooting was carried out by gang members who fired into party-goers at a house.

- A man identified as Ramon Chavez, 20, was shot in the thigh about 9:30 p.m. in what police said was a possible gang attack.

- At 5:15 p.m. Saturday, three people, including a boy whose 16th birthday was on Sunday, were peppered by a shotgun blast fired in a drive-by shooting outside a liquor store known to be a gang hangout, he said.

Also, two Pasadena teen-agers, ages 17 and 18, were wounded in a drive-by shooting in South Los Angeles early Saturday.