GANGS SUSPECTED IN RASH OF KILLINGS

Sources Say Violence May Stem From Effort To Control Drug Trade

Authorities are investigating whether a brazen crew of young gang members
calling themselves the Murder Mob might be responsible for at least some of
the slayings that have traumatized residents in and around the Metcalfe
Park neighborhood on the city's west side this month.

Authorities and community leaders caution that many of the recent slayings
in that drug-plagued area - 14 this month alone - may have little in common
beyond their origins in the pervasive cocaine trade. Authorities believe
some killings were not drug-related.

But gang members control a large portion of the street-level drug dealing
on the north and west sides. Several sources in law enforcement and the
community confirmed that a gang calling itself the Murder Mob has made
itself known in recent weeks through shootings and intimidation. Police are
investigating whether the gang was involved in the killings of at least
three young north side men this month - Maurice "Motion" Gaillard, LeHavre
Buck Jr. and Robert Warzyn - although other motives also are being pursued.

"The Murder Mob is trying to establish a territory through threats and
intimidation and acts of violence," said one law enforcement official.
"They're believed to be the ones pulling the trigger on people to show
their muscle. We've only really heard about them for a couple of months."

Another law enforcement official added: "It's a new group of young thugs
who are trying to take over some territory, mainly through street dealing,
but also by shooting it up."

Gaillard, 27, is believed to have been affiliated with the Brothers of
Struggle gang, which was nearly wiped in the late 1980s by a massive
federal indictment but is showing signs of life again on Milwaukee's north
side, pitting itself against rival groups such as the Murder Mob.

Gaillard was being sought by police for attempted murder when he was gunned
down June 18 in the 2400 block of W. Fond du Lac Ave., as he stood with
Buck, the 24-year-old son of a prominent Milwaukee minister. Warzyn, 17, -
who knew Buck and Gaillard - was shot a week later on the porch of a house
where there have been drug-related complaints in the 3000 block of N. 40th St.

Several friends of Warzyn were putting dried roses on the fence outside his
home Friday afternoon. They said the Murder Mob is affiliated with the Vice
Lords gang and was organized just the past month or so to retaliate against
rival gang members - specifically Gaillard - who were shooting at them.

"They called themselves Murder Mob because they feel like they are
unstoppable," said a 17-year-old named Mike, who was about to go to
Warzyn's funeral. His full name is not being used for his protection.

"It all started with Motion," said the youth, referring to Gaillard.

"Motion was a person you didn't want to be around unless you wanted to get
shot at. He was always getting into stuff, causing a commotion. So many
people wanted him dead. It all started between them two years ago. He
(Motion) has shot a bunch of them (Vice Lords). But it was never like this.
They killed Motion and now they want his friends."

Warzyn's 14-year-old brother stood nearby during the conversation, at one
point pulling up his pants leg to reveal the scars of three bullet wounds
on his leg. He was sitting with Warzyn on a porch in the 3000 block of N.
40th St. early Tuesday morning when, according to the Milwaukee County
medical examiner's report, a blue car pulled up. "Guns came out and
numerous shots were fired," killing the elder brother, the report says.

Mike - who was shot once himself by a stray bullet and says he knows eight
people who have died violently, including his mother - said the drug house
where Warzyn was shot is run by Gangster Disciple gang members who are
friends of Gaillard and bitter rivals of the Vice Lords and its offshoot,
the Murder Mob.

Authorities and community leaders say north side street gangs are more
fractious than south side gangs. Neighborhood crews such as the Murder Mob
continually pop up; neighborhood youths coin colorful names for themselves
such as Ghetto Cowboys and Lynch Mob. These fledgling crews often resort to
violence in efforts to stake out a piece of the hotly sought-after cocaine pie.

The groups generally align themselves with larger street gangs - on the
north side the largest are the Vice Lords and Gangster Disciples.
Nationally, such street gangs belong to one of two warring national
umbrella groups - the People and the Folks. The Murder Mob and Vice Lords
are People. The Brothers of Struggle and Gangster Disciples - which are
closely aligned - are Folks.

In the late 1980s, at least a dozen police raids in Milwaukee resulted in
the arrest of 24 suspected members of the Chicago-based Brothers of
Struggle gang. Milwaukee police attributed as many as 20 homicides to the
Brothers of Struggle during that era, and police accused them of running a
large cocaine operation. The gang's leaders received lengthy prison terms.

Said a community leader who has worked for years in gang intervention: "For
years I didn't hear about the BOS and I thought they were dead, but then I
would go to basketball games and other community events and I would hear
people saying so and so was BOS."

"The (Brothers of Struggle) gang pulled apart after the indictment, but now
there are younger members who are more violent and are trying to make a
name for themselves," added a law enforcement source.

Gaillard had been arrested three times in murder cases during the 1990s but
was never convicted in them.

Last fall, authorities say he shot a woman in the buttocks when she angered
him by beeping her car horn, Milwaukee County Circuit Court records show.