Teen Killed in Lincoln Heights

Re “2nd Night of Unrest After Boy Is Slain,” July 31:

Once again Los Angeles is on the brink of yet another standoff with police. Again, citizens are blaming officers for the violence that they themselves perpetrate on their own streets, in their own neighborhoods. I suppose these protesters want the police to ignore the fact that a 14-year-old had a semiautomatic weapon in his possession. Did the entire community forget that the police were called to the scene on the night of July 29?

I am sorry to say that I have very little pity for Antonio Gutierrez’s mother or his so-called friends. Where was Mrs. Gutierrez when her son walking the streets at 9:40 p.m. with a gun? Did she know who his friends were? Why would a mother allow a 14-year-old to be out alone so late at night? The statement by one of the witnesses that the youth was carrying a flashlight spoke volumes. This denial of the critical fact that a TEK-9 gun was involved exasperates me to no end. Is this what the citizens of Lincoln Heights call “justice”?

It is so much easier for citizens to blame the police because it deflects the responsibility away from themselves. I have been to Lincoln Heights. Many of the walls and buildings are covered with graffiti, many residences appear dilapidated and vacant lots are strewn with trash. If the people in this community, who equate throwing rocks and bottles at police officers with “protesting,” cared about their neighborhood, they would clean up the streets, become active in programs that deter youths from joining gangs and carrying guns, focus on education and watch their children.

ANN-MARIE MARIN

Los Angeles

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* As an individual who was raised in the Lincoln Heights area I would like to take issue with your reporters description of the neighborhood as a “tough low-income neighborhood.”

If your reporters would have just driven around the area, they would have discovered a diverse community of working and lower-middle-class individuals. The actions of a few individuals do not merit the neighborhood being classified as “tough.”

The real issue is not about the area but how Gutierrez died and whether the action taken by the police was justified. This is the question and if it was not justified no community “tough” or otherwise merits this type of treatment.

RICHARD M. DIAZ

Los Angeles