Homicide motives questioned

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa disclosed Thursday that he strongly felt that  the recent spate of shootings of African Americans were not based on  race.
In the past several weeks, several African Americans have been  shot by Latino gang members that have left some residents of the city  shaken, fueling speculation that blacks might be the target of ethnic  cleansing.
Villaraigosa was teary eyed at the recent funeral of  Jamiel Shaw Jr., a Los Angeles football star who was gunned down by a  Latino gang member. On Saturday Villaraigosa joined the Shaw family and  dedicated a plaque to the slain teen near Shaws Arlington Heights home.  Villaraigosa also visited Harbor Gateway, another recent trouble spot  for interracial violence where a six-year-old boy was shot in the head  by a Latino gang member.
He told Our Weekly that the recent  shootings have left him extremely troubled.
I am very concerned  about the violence occurring in our city, said Villaraigosa. Even  though statistics indicate that homicides are up and the gang violence  is down, theres been a number of outrageously sensational incidents of  innocent people gunned down without provocation, and it must concern all  of us.  It also concerns me that some of this violence could be based  on race and ethnicity, but its hard to say.
Villaraigosa cited a  recent study from the University of California at Irvine that indicated  African Americans are more likely to kill another black person than to  kill a Latino and that Latinos were more likely to kill another Latino  than an African American.
Recent LAPD homicide reports also indicate  that killings are not based on race, but that fatalities are being  fueled by fights over territory and gang ties.
I can tell you the  statistics show that eight out of 10 homicides are done to African  Americans by African Americans and nine out of 10 fatalities are done to  Latinos by Latinos, said Villaraigosa. But even if one innocent  victim is killed by gun violence, its one victim too many.
Villaraigosa  said that the city must take a proactive stance to combat gang  violence. We have to grow police department and invest in our young  people and we also need to give our young people an alternative to gangs  and guns. Without federal support, these shootings will continue to  remain a problem.