14-year-old boy has become the city's 22nd homicide of the year.

14-year-old boy has become the city's 22nd homicide of the year. Police say the teen was pronounced dead in a hospital after being shot multiple times in the courtyard of an apartment complex Thursday night. The shooting is being investigated as gang-related. Gang violence has plagued the farming community of 150,000 throughout most of the year, with police saying all 22 killings may be linked to gangs. The increase in crime became so bad that last month seven Salinas churches held round-the-clock vigils to pray for peace.

Gang-related incident Molotov cocktails were thrown into four homes in Salinas

Molotov cocktails were thrown into four homes in Salinas on Thursday night and Friday morning in an alleged gang-related incident, according to police.The first incident occurred just before midnight Thursday when suspects threw incendiary devices into a home in the 700 block of Garner Avenue, police said.Just after midnight Friday, more Molotov cocktails were thrown into three different homes in the 900 block of Acosta Plaza, police said.In both cases, the devices caused minor damage to the home and injured no one.

cyber-banging. Gangs now use social networking sites to recruit, communicate, and post threats.

cyber-banging. Gangs now use social networking sites to recruit, communicate, and post threats.For Salinas officials, the trend brought to mind how terrorist organizations developed and triggered the idea of bringing in terrorism experts from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue was fascinated with how the military methodically figured where Sadam Hussein was by using statistical analysis. He wondered if the same approach in terms of predictability could be used on gangs.Salinas police Commander Kelly McMillan agrees and said a lot of insurgent groups the military deals with in Iraq and Afghanistan are very much structured like a street gang in Salinas.

Anthony Sandoval was arrested and booked into county jail for being a suspected gang member in possession of a firearm

Salinas police arrested a 37-year-old suspected gang member and convicted felon of being in possession of a firearm Friday morning, according to authorities.Officers served a search warrant in the 200 block of Winham Street around 8 a.m. and located a Smith and Wesson .45 revolver, a 30/30 Winchester rifle and gang-related items, police said.Anthony Sandoval was arrested and booked into county jail for being a suspected gang member in possession of a firearm, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, police said.

Three people dead and five wounded by gunfire in renewed Gang violence

violence has returned to the Salinas, leaving three people dead and five wounded by gunfire. Most of the victims in the latest surge of shootings that began Nov. 2 have been younger than 25. The youngest victim, Romeo Gose, 15, was killed after being shot multiple times in the upper body about 9 p.m. Sunday in Northgate Park on the city's northwest side off Cherokee Drive. Gose died at a local hospital a short time later, becoming the city's 23rd slaying victim of 2008. Salinas police Cmdr. Kelly McMillin said Gose was near an outbuilding in the park when two people approached him and opened fire at close range. "We have no reason to believe this had anything to do with gangs," McMillin said. He declined to elaborate. Less than 90 minutes earlier, in what police are investigating as a gang-related shooting, the 22nd slaying of the year was marked. Edgar Hernandez, 19, was fatally shot about 7:50 p.m. Sunday when someone opened fire on him and two 33-year-old men in the driveway of their home on the 1100 block of Pacific Avenue. Hernandez had just returned home from a store and was standing with the men when a car pulled up, McMillin said. "The passenger exited the vehicle, didn't say a word and opened fire," McMillin said the investigation has determined. Hernandez died at the scene. The two men with him were wounded and were taken to a San Jose hospital for treatment. They are expected to recover. McMillin said that though investigators are probing possible gang motives, there is nothing to suggest Hernandez or the men with him are involved in gangs.
Police did not provide a description of suspects or a vehicle in either shooting.
McMillin said there is nothing to suggest the two incidents are connected or are related to the other four shootings in the last nine days. Two 16-year-old boys were wounded by gunfire about 4 p.m. Friday when the driver of a gray or brown Ford Thunderbird shot at them near Florence Place and Fairview Drive. Police have made no arrests. Francisco Cabrera, 23, was shot several times about 11 p.m. Thursday on the 1000 block of North Sanborn Road. Officers who happened to be in the area responded and stopped a Mazda Protege that was speeding away. Driver Luis Placencia, 20, Diego Ramirez, 18, and two male juveniles were arrested. Shots were fired at a house in the 1800 block of Margaret Street about 8 p.m. Nov. 3, striking some vehicles. No one was injured and the shots were apparently fired from a tan 1990s two-door Honda Accord. Jose Alonzo, 22, was fatally shot about 10 p.m. Nov. 2 after he answered a knock at the door of his Lewis Circle home. No arrests have been made and police have not named any suspects. "We don't have any reason to believe anything unique is going on," McMillin said.
But the three recent slayings have pushed Salinas to the cusp of tying the record 24 slaying of 1994. In an effort to try to reduce the level of violence, police launched an initiative Oct. 16 dubbed Operation Impact to target gangs with the help of the California Highway Patrol and Monterey County Sheriff's Office. The agencies agreed to lend their support to patrol the city. In the final weeks of October there were no shootings of any kind reported in Salinas. "Sometimes we go through these periods of calm," McMillin said.
Police, though, have declined to say when officers are actively working Operation Impact. "It is an ongoing operation," Deputy Police Chief Cassie McSorley said Monday.
She said the operation at some point would have to end, but would not elaborate on the current status or say if the assigned officers were working in the last week.
The CHP said that since the operation began Oct. 30, its officers have conducted 330 traffic stops, written 164 citations, impounded 47 vehicles and have arrested 36 people, including 18 for felony violations. A complete report with the details of the operation will be provided when the operation is finalized, McSorley said.
"It may not be until the first of the year," she said, adding that the results will be positive. "We will see that it has had an impact."

Robert Sanchez arrested on suspicion of Santoya’s death

Violence in Salinas returned to the area of Hartnell College late Friday night with the slaying of one man and serious injury of another.
Witnesses say a fight broke out about 11:15 p.m. at a party on the 700 block of Archer Street, leaving one man fatally shot and another stabbed. The injured man ran into a nearby apartment complex to hide until police arrived, then was taken by helicopter from the soccer fields at Hartnell College to a Bay Area hospital.
Police are not releasing the names or ages of the two men or saying whether the homicide and assault were gang-related.
The shot man became the city’s ninth homicide of the year and second homicide of the week.The day before, Martin Santoya, 21, was fatally shot near North Salinas High School minutes before school let out while arguing with someone in another car. Salinas police arrested Robert Sanchez, 18, Friday on suspicion of Santoya’s death — the year’s first arrest in a gang-related homicide in Salinas.This year the area around Hartnell and Central Park has seen an unusual amount of violence.On March 4, Gabriel Mendoza, 17, was fatally shot while walking through Central Park at night with his 14-year-old brother, Juan. This homicide, the city’s fifth of the year, is believed to be gang-related, police said.Four weeks later, Ivan Zamora, 19, was shot multiple times April 2 on the 600 block of Central Avenue and transported to a Bay Area hospital. Police said the shooting was gang-related.Central Avenue historically has been known as an area controlled by members of Norteño-affiliated gangs, said Monterey County Gang Task Force Cmdr. Dino Bardoni.About eight years ago, Bardoni said, the neighborhood experienced similar violence. He compared the rise and fall of violence in the area to a roller coaster, but declined to link it to any particular cause. “It is not a simple thing,” he said. “There are a lot of variables that we need to take into consideration to explain the spike in violence.”Bardoni did not comment on the ongoing investigation of this year’s homicides in this area.Some neighbors are taking safety precautions.Yvonne Jimenez,who has lived on Archer Street for four years, said she is concerned about the safety of her three children, 8, 11 and 15.Jimenez said that since Friday’s slaying, her children are not allowed to play outside. While they’ve always walked to and from school she said she now plans to pick them up during the afternoon, when gang members may be active. “It’s scary to know how the area has changed,” Jimenez said.
Central Avenue resident Richard Littlefield, who lives two houses from the April 2 shooting, said the violence would probably continue.“The retaliation will continue, and there’s only so much that police can do,” he said. “This was a lovely, quiet side of town, but now (violence) is filtering in.”