Gang violence rages across jurisdictions

Local law-enforcement agencies say they are concerned that a spate of gang violence that has erupted in the District in the past two weeks could spread to the suburbs.

“It’s not like we can turn our backs on what’s going on in another jurisdiction because these gangs are mobile,” said Lt. Susan Culin, commander of the Fairfax County Police Youth Services Division. “Their problem is our problem, too,”

Since July 26, four persons have been killed and five others injured in the District in a series of shootings the Metropolitan Police Department has classified as “gang-related.”

Metropolitan Police Cmdr. Hilton Burton said yesterday the violence stems from two disputes between two Latino gangs based in the Hispanic communities of Northwest.

One dispute involves a large Hispanic gang called La Mara R, which operates from 17th and R streets NW and takes its name from a Spanish slang word for “clique.” The other gang called “1-5 Crew” is smaller and based around 15th Street NW.

The other dispute involves gangs called Street Thug Criminals, or STC, and Vatos Locos, which translates loosely to “crazy men.”

“Why each one of their conflicts started, we don’t know specifically,” Cmdr. Burton said. “When you’re dealing with gangs, it’s always simmering.”

He said Monday’s shooting in an alley at the 1700 block of Columbia Road NW resulted in two arrests of two men, one of whom was a gang leader. The victim suffered non-life-threatening wounds. Police hope the arrests may prevent another retaliatory shooting.

“Usually they coexist,” Cmdr. Burton said, adding that a feud could start because of a real or perceived slight, and could escalate because those involved are “young, immature people who are spurned.”

“Most of the [gang members] don’t know how to stop it because they’re living in a tit-for-tat, confrontational world,” he said.

One gang not involved in the recent violence in the District is MS-13, which stands for Mara Salvatrucha.

Fairfax’s Lt. Culin said there are an estimated 3,000 members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 in Northern Virginia. MS-13 originated in the late 1980s when refugees with La Mara, a street gang in El Salvador, joined forces with Salvadoran guerrillas, known as “salvatruchas.” Gang members settled in Latino communities in Los Angeles and the District, but have since spread to 15 states.

One of those states is Virginia.

The Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that the death of 18-year-old Brenda Paz, whose body was found in the Shenandoah River’s North Fork on July 17, appears to have been gang-related. Miss Paz, of Fairfax, was a member of MS-13.

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