Gang Warfare in Santa Ana Claims 2 Lives : Crime: Residents in the area of the latest deaths despair of the increasing violence. Others, outraged, organize to end it.

By BILL BILLITER

March 30, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SANTA ANA — Two young men were shot to death early Sunday in a volley of gunfire from a military-type assault weapon at El Salvador Park--a little more than a mile from police headquarters.

Ernesto Sanudo Mendez and Sammy Porras, both 21, were walking in the 1800 block of Civic Center Drive about 1:45 a.m. when they were gunned down by shots fired from a passing car.

Police said it was another gang-related shooting. Residents of the Civic Center area said it was another outrage.

“How long do we have to put up with this?” demanded one father of three who stood in the park Sunday afternoon. “And why don’t you people in the newspapers and TV do something to help us?”

Nearby, a mother of three said: “I’m afraid to let my children come to this park. The gang takes it over when it starts to get dark. It didn’t used to be so dangerous around here. Now there is shooting over every little thing. My (12-year-old) son heard the shooting here last night, and he got out of bed and onto the floor he was so scared.”

As the angry parents talked, two new attractions on the edge of the park--a dumpster and a nearby van, both with fresh bullet holes--drew scores of teen-agers, who approached as if visiting a shrine.

A dark-haired youth pointed to the dumpster. “The two guys were standing here, and one of them got shot here,” he said. “Then the other guy tried to hide behind the van, but they (the gunmen) got him.”

Police released few details about the fatal shootings. It could not be verified whether the gunmen had chased the second shooting victim behind the parked van. But neighbors, especially the teen-agers, seemed to know a great deal about the early morning deaths.

“This park is F-Troop area, and the people who shot were not from F Troop,” said one teen-ager.

Another teen-ager said: “They (the gunmen) think we’re going to do something about this right away, but we’ll take our time.”

Adult residents, all of whom feared being identified by name, confirmed that El Salvador Park is considered gang turf of F Troop.

“It’s always been the Troopers’ area, but it didn’t used to be so unsafe,” said the mother of three.

She pointed to some teen-agers dressed in black who sat on top of a park table about 30 yards away. “Those are gang members,” she said. “I tell my children, ‘Never wear black. Never. You’ll be accused of being in a gang.’ ”

Fresh graffiti on a handball court in El Salvador Park proclaimed “F Troop” in elaborate black-paint swirls. “That wall was clean only two weeks ago,” said one woman in the park.

A short distance away, a larger graffito made a more frightening statement. On a wall between the park and adjacent Fremont Elementary School, a larger-than-life-size drawing showed a gunman aiming a pistol point-blank. The gang signature “F Troop” was sprayed next to the drawing.

The young father of three said Sunday that he and other Civic Center Drive-area residents are organizing, trying to halt the gang violence.

“We’ve been holding meetings, but you people in the press, you don’t respond until there is something like this (double murder),” he said.

The man said the next gathering of residents will be at 1 p.m. Saturday in Delhi Park. “We’re trying to tell our young people to avoid the gangs, to stay out of trouble,” he said, referring to the neighborhood gatherings.

Meanwhile, police are seeking information about the two killings. They asked those with information to call gang investigators at (714) 647-5165. Police promised that the identity of informants would be kept “strictly confidential.”

But one adult in the park on Sunday afternoon said ruefully that police cannot cope with gang violence, even when it happens a few minutes away from police headquarters. “The police, they only make things worse,” said the man.

Meanwhile, the teen-agers, in dark fascination, continued to study the bullet holes left behind after two more people died in a park meant as a refuge from urban problems.