Washington's Voz - Montgomery Co. wakes up to gang violence

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Montgomery Co. wakes up to gang violence

Montgomery County Police Department

Defendants. Top row, left to right: Alfredo Sánchez, Henry Caballero, José Joaquín Conejo. Bottom row, left to right : Kevin Macklin Mendoza, Luis Alonso Guzmán, Santos Maximino García.

Isabel M. Estrada Portales
Washington's Voz
08/12/2005

“Everybody knows this!” says Jennifer, 14, who volunteers as a bilingual speaker for families in need of immigration paperwork. “It makes me mad this “surprise” thing.”

Jennifer, who attends Montgomery County public schools, was referring to the six stabbings that occurred last Friday, two in front of Springbrook High School in Silver Spring , four at a Target store in Wheaton Mall, where she and her friends are used to hang out.

“I think I'll be going there again. I guess I'm used to it now. We see them all the time. Just because they haven't killed someone yet doesn't mean they aren't there,” she says.

Her friend, Carla, 14 and also a volunteer, does not believe she'll be back at the mall anytime soon. “My mom won't let me get anywhere near it!”

But, will her mom know? “Yes, she will know, because she baby-sits at home, so she's always there when I come back from school. Most of my friends make fun of me, because I can't possibly sneak out. She knows that bus schedule by heart!”

And that's probably one of the main problems, experts agree. Carla is among the lucky ones with at least one parent home to check on her when she's back from school. But that's the exception to the rule. Most teens go back to an empty house, that probably would be empty for a long time, since most parents work long hours, for very little money, and can't afford the after school programs, if they are offered at all.

“There are actually a lot of after school programs,” says Kate Harrison, spokesperson from Montgomery County Public Schools. “But we know we need to create new outlets for the kids. There is a gang task force at this time working on this.”

According to Harrison , they have not seen any indication of specific gang activity at Springbrook or in any of the schools, but they had been working on the prevention front, and are working with the police department. At this point, there is increased security at that particular school. “We are not taking this lightly,” she states.

When asked about the outreach to the Latino community, Harrison says “there needs to be more. This is something we are working with the county and the police. This is a community issue, not only a school issue.”

As much as that bothers Jennifer, it is true that many expressed surprise at the stabbings, probably because of the intensity of the events. But parents and community leaders have also expressed outrage because they have been warning about the gang presence for a long time.

Police, however, insist they weren't caught by surprise.

“We have been dealing with gang issues for a long time,” says Lieutenant Eric Burnett, from the Montgomery County Police Department. “We were not caught by surprise by this at all. We couldn't stop it, but we did respond very quickly because we had a gang unit that has been working on it and had good intelligence that lead to several arrests.”

At this time, both stabbing incidents have not been officially linked, but police has identified all of the defendants and the victims as members of rival Salvadorian gangs.

The six victims are expected to recover. Eleven arrests have been made and all suspects have been charged with attempted murder, first and second degree assault, and conspiracy, and are being held without bond in the Montgomery County Detention Center .

Although five of the detainees are under 18 years old, at least two of them Harris Hauffen, 17, of the 300 block of South Hampton Drive in Silver Spring; and Rolando Velasquez, 16, of the 700 block of Langley Drive in Silver Spring , will be charged as adults.

“This is a tragic reminder that we are not immune from the kind of gang violence that other communities in this region – and across the nation – have had to deal with,” said Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan.