Community Forum in Wake of Pico Violence Set for Monday

By Lookout Staff

October 4 -- Police and School District officials will address a recent spate of shootings in the Pico neighborhood during a community forum Monday evening.

The forum was organized by City and School District officials after a driveby shooting behind Edison Elementary School last Tuesday left a 16-year-old victim injured when he fell trying to run from the spray of bullets.

The shooting, which took place at 4:30 p.m., led to a lockdown of the school, where childern were participating in the CREST afterschool program.

“It was a miracle that no one was shot," said Edison PTA Co-president Griselda Garces, "but I would hate to think what would happen if those bullets would have been fired in the direction of the school while more than 40 kids were playing. A wire fence is not going to stop a bullet from killing one of our students.”

The Edision incident is the latest in a string of shootings in the Pico Neighborhood that left one young victim dead in an alley last September. Two incidents near Edison late last year led to a community meeting in January.

At Monday's meeting, Loya is expected to recommend that the City create a Children’s Safe Zone that would include permanent police presence at local schools and surrounding neighborhoods when there are signs of violence.

“Incidents such as this compel us to implement a more thorough approach to neighborhood-centered policing," Loya said in a statement. "We need to send a message to families that our schools will be a safe and secure environment for our children and that if you endanger the lives of innocent children, you will be held accountable.

"SMPD must increase its visibility around the neighborhoods where most of these shootings occur," Loya said. "If we fail to respond to this, we are failing to protect our most precious resource, our children.”

Counceling was set up at Edison School for both students and staff after Tuesday's shooting.

Police are looking for two suspects who fled in a compact dark grey vehicle that was last seen heading eastbound from the site of the shooting on the 2400 block of Virginia Avenue.

One of the suspects is identified as a Hispanic man in his twenties with a thin build. The other is only identified as a male Hispanic.

Monday's community forum will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Edison School auditorium.