June 12, 2013 -- In the past five days in Santa Monica, seven people have been fatally shot and seven wounded -- in three separate incidents -- that have shocked the usually quiet beachside town.

Santa Monica is known the world over for its temperate climate, its beaches and bustling downtown, but Friday, the relative serenity of the 8.3-square-mile town of 90,000 was shattered by a shooting rampage that left six dead, including the shooter.

Rodriguez. Photo SMPD

On Sunday, in an unrelated incident, another man was shot while riding a bike in the Pico Neighborhood. Police are currently seeking Levy Ernesto Rodriguez, a 24-year old Hispanic male and resident of Santa Monica, as a suspect. Early Tuesday morning, one man was killed and another critically injured after a man jumped out of a blue Infinity and shot both at point-blank range about a mile and a half away from the scene of Sunday's shooting.

Police are investigating whether the Sunday and Tuesday shootings are gang-related, but for some, the incidents are a sobering reminder of what Santa Monica's Pico Neighborhood used to be and the work that still lies ahead.

If Tuesday’s shooting is found to be gang-related, it would mark the 43rd gang-related homicide since 1989.

“Ninety-five percent of those homicides have been in the Pico Neighborhood,” said School Board Member Oscar de la Torre, who is the founder and interim director of Pico Youth and Family Center (PYFC).

The Pico Neighborhood has historically been a hotbed of gang violence that has erupted in usually brief, but intense, shooting sprees over the years. Most of the violence has been concentrated between 16th and 23rd streets.

Tuesday morning’s shootings took place in an alley near 16th Street and Michigan Avenue. One of the victims, a Hispanic man in his 20s, died in the hospital Tuesday afternoon as a result of gunshot wounds. Friends, who identified the victim as Gil, told The Lookout that he was an alumnus of Santa Monica High School.

“All these young people are products of our school system,” de la Torre said. “I grew up on almost the same block as Gil. I knew him really well.”

Before Tuesday’s shooting, the last victim killed by gang violence in Santa Monica--Richard Juarez, a graduate of Olympic High School--was shot in Virginia Avenue Park at 23rd and Pico in November 2009.

The fatal shooting capped a decade that saw violence continue to take the lives of young Santa Monica residents in or near the Pico Neighborhood.

In 2005, Johnathan Hernandez, Hector Bonilla and Jesse Becerra were killed, with two of the young men brazenly shot multiple times during a local birthday party.

The following year, gang violence took the life of popular Santa Monica High student Eddie Lopez, who was not affiliated with gangs. It also claimed 22-year-old Santa Monica resident Miguel Martin, who, like Juarez, was gunned down in Virginia Avenue Park.

In 2008, Preston Brumfield died of injuries suffered when he was assaulted near the same park, and one month later and less than three blocks away, Byron Lopez, a 28-year-old Latino man, was gunned down.
Since the last fatal shooting three and a half years ago, gang violence seemed to have dissipated.
“I think we have a good handle in Santa Monica on gang activity,” Brock said, adding that an increase in youth services had contributed to the decrease in gang violence.

But De la Torre, who heads the PYFC down the street from Santa Monica High School, believes an upswing in gang violence could be looming in the Pico Neighborhood.

“It seems like we're experiencing something similar to what happened in 1998,” de la Torre said.

De la Torre was referring to a gang war that left four dead and spurred a wave of outrage that led to the founding of the PYFC.

“There's always been a part of Santa Monica and a part of Venice that have been more disadvantaged and have been breeding grounds,” said Brock. “They have shrunk but there are still issues.”

Despite efforts by the City and nonprofits, some children get left behind, Brock said. “All the City's services help reduce crime,” he said, singling out the Boys and Girls Club and the PYFC. “But it's almost impossible to eradicate.”

John Zawarhi, the 24-year-old who went on a killing spree Friday that ended on SMC's main campus at 19th and Pico, was one of those who didn't get the attention he needed, Brock said. “He was obviously left behind,” said Brock.

According to reports, Zawarhi -- who attended Olympic High School, Santa Monica High School and Santa Monica College -- struggled with a violent home life, kept to himself and often indulged in violent fantasies that sometimes included his fellow classmates.

While Zawarhi's rampage was not related to the other two shootings and was not gang-related, the larger problem for Brock is that those who commit violent crimes seldom get the attention they need as children.

“If the parents don't help, then kids can get left behind,” he said. “And that's sad. How do you force someone to pay attention?”