Black leaders in San Diego are condemning a recent spate of violence in southeast San Diego. Police suspect gang activity in the shooting deaths of three young men. KPBS Radio’s Andrew Phelps has the story.
The victims were all 19 years old, all shot dead within 24 hours in Bay Terraces and nearby Valencia Park. That’s Pastor Rickey Laster’s neighborhood -- he’s president of Black Men United. Laster says families are trying to make sense of these killings at the dinner table.
Laster: You know, when it all comes out the wash, you find out if you don’t know who did it, you know his people, or you know his cousin, or you went to school with his dad. So, that’s what makes it so sad. That really we’re all so closely connected. Yet so far apart.
But conversations at the dinner table don’t help the police end violence. San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne is asking everyone in the community to share what they know with law enforcement. He says anyone who reports crimes will remain anonymous. For KPBS, I’m Andrew Phelps.
