Mother of Teen Shot at Taco Stand Pleads for Peace Amid Gang Violence

Days after her 13-year-old son, Martin, was wounded by stray bullets in ongoing gang violence in South Los Angeles, Francisca Xuncax said she's managed only two hours of sleep.

Through an interpreter, she said her son was "delirious with pain" as he suffered through his gunshot wounds.

"He was screaming, 'I've been shot, I've been shot,'" she said. "'Blood, blood.'"

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and Mayor Eric Garcetti used Martin to put a human face on what authorities say is an-out-of-control spike in violence in South LA.

Martin was one of three children wounded by gunshots Wednesday night at a taco stand. Officials responded with a call for peace, saying street gangs are largely to blame for the violence.

"We still suffer far too much from gang violence," Beck said at a news conference Friday morning.

Police beefed up patrols, added SWAT team members, and expanded a Summer Night Lights program to keep kids out of trouble.

The attack happened while the children were at the stand at 94th and Figueroa streets about 8 p.m. Wednesday when shots rang out, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Among the victims was a 10-year-old boy. He says a car pulled up and a man inside began shooting at a second man, who quickly fled.

"He was running, so when they saw him running they shot at him, but they hit us instead of the target that they were aiming at," he said.

The boy was grazed in the hand. Two others, both 13 years old, were shot in the upper body. One of them was on the street and the other was eating inside.

"When I dropped there were still guns fired," the boy said. "The girl sitting down, when she stand up she had got hit by a bullet, and my friend was walking toward the 99 cent store to buy sodas. A bullet had hit him through his back and came out through his chest."

Both children were in critical condition Thursday, but doctors said they were expected to survive.
Neither the shooter nor the intended target of the shooting were found.

Cmdr. Andrew Smith said they have a good description based on people at the scene. The shooter was described as a man in his early to mid 20s driving a dark Honda Civic. He has a stud or piece of jewelry pieced on his left eyebrow.

The owners of the establishment have cooperated with police.

Anyone with information was urged to call the LAPD.
 

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