{"id":298719,"date":"2010-02-09T11:11:40","date_gmt":"2010-02-09T16:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c630a53ef0128777e3422970c"},"modified":"2010-02-09T11:43:41","modified_gmt":"2010-02-09T16:43:41","slug":"lapd-beefs-up-patrols-in-mid-wilshire-area-after-fatal-shooting-of-gang-intervention-worker-updated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/298719","title":{"rendered":"LAPD beefs up patrols in Mid-Wilshire area after fatal shooting of gang intervention worker [Updated]"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<p><script src=\"http:\/\/tap-cdn.rubiconproject.com\/partner\/scripts\/rubicon\/alice.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><noscript><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Anti-gang leader shot dead\" border=\"0\" height=\"388\" src=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/media\/photo\/2010-02\/52108878.jpg\" width=\"580\"><\/img><\/p>\n<p>The Los Angeles Police Department is stepping up patrols in a Mid-Wilshire neighborhood where a popular gang intervention worker was fatally shot after confronting a tagger on West Pico Boulevard.<\/p>\n<p>Ronald Lamonte Barron was leaving a bar in his old neighborhood Sunday night with his<br \/>\ngirlfriend when he noticed a tagger defacing a wall on Pico. Detectives<br \/>\nsaid he confronted the tagger, who fatally shot<br \/>\nhim as his girlfriend and others looked on.<\/p>\n<p>[<strong>Updated at 8:39 a.m.:<\/strong> A previous version of this post dropped Barron&#8217;s last name on first reference.]<\/p>\n<p>LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith said officials were beefing up patrols in the area to help ensure the safety of the community and to prevent retaliatory violence. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom what we can tell it looks like he was trying to do the right thing and senselessly shot because of it,&quot; Smith said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The LAPD said surveillance video from nearby<br \/>\nbusinesses captured the killing in the 5000 block of West Pico<br \/>\nBoulevard in the Mid-Wilshire district.<br \/><\/br><br \/>\n<br \/><\/br><br \/>\nThe footage appeared to show a gunman wearing dark-colored clothing<br \/>\narguing with Barron in front of &quot;numerous witnesses,&quot; LAPD detectives<br \/>\nsaid.<br \/><\/br><br \/>\n<br \/><\/br><br \/>\nThe suspected gang member, a Latino 20 to 25 years old, approximately 6<br \/>\nfeet tall and 180 pounds, then pulled out a pistol and shot Barron<br \/>\nmultiple times at point-blank range before calmly walking off.<br \/><\/br><br \/>\n<br \/><\/br><br \/>\nShot in the head and chest, Barron fell in the middle of the busy<br \/>\nthoroughfare. The 40-year-old was pronounced dead at a local hospital a<br \/>\nfew hours later.<br \/><\/br><br \/>\n<br \/><\/br><br \/>\nHis slaying stunned colleagues at Amer-I-Can, where Barron had worked for more than a decade.<br \/><\/br><br \/>\n<br \/><\/br><br \/>\nThe loss was also felt at City Hall and LAPD headquarters, where<br \/>\nofficials rely on gang interventionists like Barron to help reduce the<br \/>\ngrip of gangs in some neighborhoods.<br \/><\/br><br \/>\n<br \/><\/br><br \/>\n Barron was considered a veteran in the field. A former member of the Mansfield Crips gang that claims territory around<br \/>\nPico Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, Barron was one of a few gang outreach workers who<br \/>\nwas trusted enough by Los Angeles authorities to counsel young offenders in the<br \/>\njails.<br \/><\/br><br \/>\n<br \/><\/br><br \/>\n&quot;Very few people reach that level,&quot; said attorney Connie Rice, a<br \/>\nprominent civil rights attorney and leader of the Advancement Project,<br \/>\nwhich is providing formal training for gang outreach workers.<br \/><\/br><br \/>\n<br \/><\/br><br \/>\n&quot;There are a lot of con artists who claim to be interventionists,&quot; Rice<br \/>\nsaid. Barron &quot;was one of the genuine ones. He was dedicated. He was<br \/>\ntrusted enough to go into the jails. That&#8217;s a pretty rare status.&quot;<br \/><\/br><br \/>\n<br \/><\/br><br \/>\nAuthorities don&#8217;t believe his work in gang intervention played any role in the killing.<br \/><\/br><\/p>\n<p> &#8212; Andrew Blankstein<\/p>\n<p><em>Photo: A memorial lies in the 5000 block of West Pico Boulevard, where Ronald<br \/>\nLamonte Barron was killed Sunday night after arguing with a tagger<br \/>\noutside a bar. Surveillance tape captured the slaying. <span class=\"credit\">Credit: <span class=\"photographer\">Luis Sinco \/ Los Angeles Times<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Police Department is stepping up patrols in a Mid-Wilshire neighborhood where a popular gang intervention worker was fatally shot after confronting a tagger on West Pico Boulevard. Ronald Lamonte Barron was leaving a bar in his old neighborhood Sunday night with his girlfriend when he noticed a tagger defacing a wall on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4131,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-298719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}