Last Night's Killing: The Aftermath

IF ONLY this were an April Fools joke. Last night's killing of an alleged gang member in the 2900 block of Glenmanor Place is a stark reminder that the gang era continues in Atwater Village. Neighbors were outside this morning trying to grasp the violence and the reaction. Who was the victim? Did he live in Atwater Village? For how long? Was the killer with a rival gang? Is he coming back? Did LAPD respond fast enough? Did they look in the right places? Plenty of speculation on the AVNC forum, too. One reader fairly took me to task for the first line of my report last night: "I have a problem with the first line of your last post: 'There better be a good explanation for this.' These helicopters are not a nuisance. Both of us pay tax dollars so that they can come protect us if there is a problem in out neighborhood. You are a leader in this community by hosting this blog. Please consider that your actions may produce a negative effect by preventing our community members from calling the police if they see/hear suspicious activity in the future." Agreed: a thorough and swift response to crime is greatly needed and appreciated. And I always recommend notifying authorities about suspect activity. Remember the newspaper salesmen? And the curb painters? And the Sunnynook meth house? Call, call, call. But when a neighborhood is swarmed by police and residents are commanded from the sky to "go inside, lock your doors," I think an explanation is due. How about it, LAPD? What really happened? Why did it happen? Is it going to happen again? Is there anything we can do? How do we make it all go away?