INNOCENTS CAUGHT IN GANG TURF WARS

Bloodshed Closes in on Calgarians

The sound. That's what haunts Carol Ann Jones after all these
months.

Several sharp "pops" -- the unmistakable rat-tat of
gunfire.

And then, the dull, muffled thud of lead hitting flesh.

"I knew he had been shot. I didn't look, but you could hear it," Jones
says, her voice wavering.

"It's the sound.

"You know when a bullet hits something other than a wall or a
window."

On Dec. 23, 2002, Jones, and hundreds of other shoppers, were
unwittingly thrust into the line of fire of a growing crime problem
during an Asian gang ambush at the Southcentre Mall.

Although Jones wasn't hurt in the shooting, the Okotoks mother of two
still bears scars from the attack.

"It just blew the illusion for me of how safe it was in Calgary,"
Jones says.

"I personally have not been back to Southcentre. And I worry all the
time if my kids tell me they're going to Calgary."

A recently released report says gang activity is increasing both in
Calgary and across Alberta.

Jones is one of the unseen victims of Calgary's ongoing gang turf war
- -- bystanders and innocents, caught in the crossfire as criminals
battle for control of the city's drug-fuelled underworld.

Those who choose the gang life know the risks.

Running drugs, robbery, loan sharking and pimping can make them
rich.

But the tradeoff is living under the threat of doublecross, vendetta,
retribution and death.

Average Calgarians want no part of this life, and yet increasingly,
they're being drawn into the fray as gang squabbles boil over into
city streets.

Calgary Police Chief Jack Beaton says there's a real potential for
innocents to be killed in the crossfire.

"That's why we put a (gang) task force together. I was really afraid,
as were other members of the executive, that an innocent bystander
would in fact get shot," Beaton says.

"Southcentre was a perfect example -- busy Christmas shopping, stores
are full, a drive-by shooting. Many of the bullets lodged themselves
in books in the bookstore. So it could have just as easily been an
innocent citizen."

Earlier this week, the Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta released
a report on the status of gang activity in the province.

The study says at least 24 gangs are operating in Alberta, with more
than half made up of members from a particular ethnic group, from
Italians and Jamaicans to aboriginals and Asians. Rounding out this
rogues' gallery are more traditional gangs such as the Hells Angels.

The gangs engage in a host of illegal activities, with the drug trade
being their bread and butter.

Awareness of gangs has risen in recent months with several
high-profile drive-by shootings in the city.

However, experts say gangs have always operated in modern-day
Calgary.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, biker gangs dominated the city's
underworld.

A running vendetta between the King's Crew and the Grim Reapers
motorcycle gangs resulted in the murders of two Kings Crew bikers in
1983 and the fatal bombing of a booby-trapped jeep in 1984 that killed
another Kings Crew member.

In the late 1980s to early 1990s, Asian gangs gained both power and
prominence in the city -- and on at least two occasions, innocent
bystanders became victims of gang feuding.

In February 1989, Ngeng Poovong, 22, was stabbed to death during a
brawl at a Laos religious function in the parking lot of the
Marlborough Park Community Centre.

His family said he was never a gang member. The murder was committed
during a gang brawl.

And in May 1992, a 20-year-old Calgary man was shot in the face at
close range on Electric Avenue when he was mistaken for being a rival
Asian gang member. He survived.

Today, Beaton says there are two particular gangs embroiled in a turf
war in Calgary.

"These two gangs we're working on presently have known each other for
some time and do not like each other," Beaton says. "Of course, with
the killings you can understand how much of a hate they have for each
other."

There have been at least three gang-related drive-by shootings in the
city since last December. The victim of the Southcentre shooting
survived, but two young men -- Vinh Le, 29 and Bill Ly, 19, were
killed in separate gun attacks on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30, 2002.

Beaton says members of Calgary's street gangs are teens to mid-to-late
20-year-olds who often work their way up the organized crime echelons.

"They go anywhere where the money is -- whether it's cocaine or heroin
or marijuana. If you eliminate your competition, of course, your
business thrives."

Bohdan Harasymiw, a University of Calgary political scientist
specializing in organized crime, said those who witness gang-style
attacks can have difficulty dealing with what they've seen.

"It's quite traumatic for the individuals," says Harasymiw. "Although
the (number of gang) incidents are quite small, for the individual
that happens to be on the spot, it's devastating."

U of C criminologist John Manzo, says Calgary, for its size, is a
relatively safe city.

However, with each reported drive-by shooting and gang-related crime,
feelings of fear grow, creating the false perception that Calgary is
unsafe and ridden with crime, he says.

"When these things happen, there are repercussions," Manzo says.
"Bearing witness to a shooting is going to affect anybody."

Gloria Picken is living proof that average citizens can make a
difference in the war on gangs.

The Medicine Hat woman and her husband Doug have led a plucky campaign
to oust a band of Hells Angels that set up a clubhouse and wild
after-hours bar on her street.

"We all got together and said: 'This is enough. We don't have to put
up with that kind of crap,' " Picken says in an interview from
Medicine Hat.

"You have to stand up for what you believe in.

"And if they're doing wrong, you've got to stop them."

About a year ago, Picken says a group of bikers moved into the area
and turned their quiet suburban neighbourhood into a party zone.

"You couldn't sleep, with the motorbikes roaring down the street,"
Picken says.

"People screaming and hollering, prostitutes, parties that started at
11 (p.m.) and went until 5 in the morning."

"They just moved in and thought they were going to take over," adds
Doug Picken.

Residents of the street, including an elderly widow and a family with
four small children, were terrified.

The Pickens, however, refused to be intimidated. They called the
police, and then city hall, demanding that officials put a stop to the
parties.

The situation in Medicine Hat took a deadly twist last November when
two members of the biker gang were arrested for the murder of a local
man, Ronald Wayne Reynolds. The two bikers eventually pleaded guilty
to manslaughter in the case and are serving seven year sentences.

Soon after the convictions, local police cracked down on the bikers,
repeatedly raiding their clubhouse and arresting gang members for a
variety of infractions.

Doug Picken says the heavy police presence seems to have
worked.

"We just kept bugging them, and the cops drove them (the bikers)
nuts.

Now they're gone," Picken says. "It's nice and quiet and I hope it
stays that way."

Picken admits it was nerve-wracking to take on a gang, but adds honest
citizens have a duty to protect their neighbourhoods.

"We were scared," he says, "but you have to do something.

"We all got together, one little neighbourhood, and made a
difference."

[sidebar]

*CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE SERVICE OF ALBERTA ANNUAL REPORT

Main points from the April 2002 - March 2003

1. Drug production:

Increased production of crystal methamphetamine (speed) in several
communities throughout Alberta. Easy to make, can be produced anywhere
and is relatively cheap.

2. Hells Angels expansion in Alberta:

Chapters now exist in Medicine Hat, Grand Prairie and Fort McMurray as
well as Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer.

3. Asian organized crime groups:

Vast majority of marijuana grow-ops being dismantled in southern
Alberta organized and managed by Asian-based crime groups.

4. Street gangs:

Although not at the level of organized gangs, street gangs are showing
increased levels of sophistication in their operations.

5. Aboriginal gang growth:

Once existing primarily in prisons for protection purposes, gangs have
recognized the financial benefit of hard drug trade on reserves.

6. Racism/Hate activity:

The National Alliance in Canada has conducted at least two recruiting
campaigns in the last year. Canada Customs and Revenue Agency has made
some seizures of inbound hate literature.

[sidebar]

TIMELINE FOR SOUTHCENTRE SHOOTING

1. Around 6:20 p.m., a group of four young men leave
the

Southcentre Mall, exiting near the Indigo book store.

2. They walk onto the narrow sidewalk in front of the Indigo book
store. Many shoppers are exiting and entering the mall at the time.

3. At least four shots ring out. Eyewitnesses recall hearing a series
of sharp "pops." A young man crumples to the ground, after being hit
more than once by bullets. Police decline to release specifics on his
injuries, saying it will compromise their investigation.

4. At least one bullet smashed through the window of Indigo book
store, lodging in a book shelf inside the store.

5. Witnesses describe the shooter's vehicle as a "black compact car."
At the time of the attack, the shooter was about 20 feet from the victim.

6. Moments later, the shooter sped off in a westerly direction through
the parking lot. Eyewitnesses were unable to track the vehicle after
that.

7. The victim of the shooting survived the attack and no arrests have
been made in the case.