Return to No Man's Land

Her husband was shot to death by his stepfather 13 years ago, and several weeks later she had her son, Shawn, disconnected from life support after a car struck him on his skateboard.

Since last week's shootings, officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department have been out in force in the neighborhood, an expanse of mostly county land bounded by Arcadia, Monrovia and Duarte.

"We're still working the cases," sheriff's Sgt. Michael Rodriguez said. "We've already saturated the area with extra units, with extra patrols."

Monrovia has beefed up its patrols in the southeast corner of the city, where the first, nonfatal shooting occurred, according to Sgt. Tom Wright of the Monrovia Police Department.

Since the 1980s, the two gangs, each estimated to number in the hundreds, have battled one another, with occasional spikes in the violence.

Police suspect jailhouse tensions are a factor in the recent upswing.

"I've talked to other people involved in the investigations who've said these are all racial wars that started in the county jails and are spilling out into streets," Wright said.

Race and gang relations have worsened in the county jails, where large riots occurred earlier this year.

Gang members who don't engage in racial violence outside the jails are likely to face retribution if they end up inside, Wright said.

And the tension in No Man's Land is likely to continue.

Rumors abound of planned retaliations for last week's shootings and more, he said.

"We're hearing that people are being imported from L.A., but you hear a lot of crazy stuff," he said.

In the past, law enforcement and civic leaders have organized community forums to address the inveterate violence.

They've had little effect, however, because the community didn't show up, Detective Ernie DeArmas of the sheriff's homicide unit said.

Law enforcement officers have cited that same unwillingness to communicate as their biggest barrier to ending the violence.

But, Rodriguez said, "it's not going to deter us."

Meanwhile, Vivian Kaster remains deeply distraught and angry about the death of her daughter, who she said played varsity football as a high school freshman and wanted to become a physical education teacher.

"Nicole just happened to be in front of her location just talking with some friends ... that night," Rodriguez said.

For years, Vivian Kaster said she welcomed her children's friends from all ethnic backgrounds into her home, and wishes other parents would do more to keep children off the streets.

"I raised up this little crew, always kept them in the house," she said. "I did all that and she's still dead."

If the police do not make arrests soon, she worries further retaliation will occur.

Younger gang members are taking things too far, she said.

"It's the younger ones, its not the older ... Crips or the older Mexicans," she said. "The kids are taking it further, way too far."

But her immediate concern, she said, is justice for Nicole.

"How dare they shoot my daughter?" she said. "They killed her, they murdered her. She was supposed to put me in the ground, I'm not supposed to put her in the ground."

todd. ruiz @sgvn.com

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