Florence shooting: A survivor's account

(The following is one victim's description of yesterday's homicide in Florence, which killed a 34-year-old man and wounded three others. See first entry)

The first shot sounded very close. Sidney McFarland happened to have his eyes on his friend Carl Dixon. They had just begun a conversation.

He saw Dixon's chest jump, as though he'd been shocked. Then came another loud shot. Dixon's body jolted a second time, jerking upward, then falling forward toward McFarland.

McFarland saw people running toward the house. They had been sitting outside, a group of them, friends and cousins, drinking and talking. Next to McFarland was a 3-month-old baby in a baby seat--his cousin's infant son.

The first two shots were followed by a barrage. "Rap rap rap!" Over and over. McFarland got the baby in the baby seat on the ground. He covered the child with his body, and scooted him along the ground under his torso, according to his account, and those of other people nearby.

The baby was crying. The shots kept coming. McFarland scooted and scooted, inching along. They reached a wall. He curled over the baby, pushing him against the wall and squeezing him tight. Then he shut his eyes, and waited. The rap-rap-rap continued. McFarland's heart raced. The baby cried and cried. McFarland felt a light peppering on his body. He thought it was debris falling.

At last, the guns went quiet. People began screaming. McFarland lifted himself. He looked at the baby. The baby had stopped crying, and gazed back at him silently. McFarland jumped up. He saw Dixon lying face-down on the ground. He ran past him to the house. He leaped up the steps, ran into the kitchen, and picked up the phone. He called 911. Then he looked down at his legs.

There were bullet wounds in his ankles, calves, and up his thighs. Distractedly, McFarland hung up the phone. He started to count the wounds--"one, two, three, four...damn!" He counted six wounds in one leg. One bullet had lodged to the side of his kneecap, a hard round lump beneath the skin.

He turned to his other leg, and started counting. A wound, another and another. He lost count. Suddenly, he felt pain. He sat down abruptly, and realized he couldn't get up.

Two other victims were struck by bullets and survived--the baby's mother, and a friend, who was hospitalized in critical condition. Dixon was transported to a hospital, where he died.

McFarland, 31, was still not walking the next morning. He had bandages up and down both legs, a bloodstream full of morphine, and a face full of pain. He was trying to figure out walking with crutches, dragging both legs, unable to put his weight on either. It was the fourth time in his life that he has been shot.

Comments

[barbara]

yesterday l read the crime report of all these young men shot down .l went to bed with a heavy heart. why some much violence in los angeles?does anyone have a answer?well....how about sending the gangs to iraq? there going to die anyway........

[Lupe Ross]

While reading the article about McFarland and his heroic act to save a baby's life I realized that the gun men were trying to kill the baby. That is why McFarland was shot so many times. Our Mayor has got to pull all the stops and do whatever he has to do to stop these sense less killings of our loved ones. I survived the 1965 riot and I felt safer with the National Guards presence. Maybe it's time that the Mayor call in the National Guard again to protect the citizens of Los Angeles in the high crime areas. I would praise the Mayor for such a decision. It is obvious that there is a racial war in our streets. We don't have time for negotiations or policies to be developed the Mayor must act now before another person is killed.

[paul]

none of it makes sense. i live in new york and i stumbled upon this blog. it's true, ny is much safer now than it once was. i've never been to los angeles. it sounds like you all are living in end times out there. all these people killing each other, living in a modern hell. this man has been shot four times in his relatively young life. that's unfathomable. the woman who was shot with her children in the house by an ex lover. the unspeakable callousness. that poor boy who worked so hard and lived with his sister and was gunned down. he never even had a chance to live. he was mired in darkness throughout his short life. how can a society let itself become this way? how can it get to the point in america in 2007 where a major newspaper has to devote such attention just to try and keep up with homicide? where are we going?

i too go to bed with a heavy heart reading this. but i don't want to send the gangs to iraq. i want people to focus on the real problems, the culture of violence, the ostracization that spurs these people to do such terrible things to their fellow humans and their communities. i want our distractions to stop. i wish it were a simpler time. i'm out of words, there is no real solution, is there...

[Selene R]

I live in south L.A. for 17 years but, recently I move to T.X. I miss L.A. but, don't think I will ever move back. I have a family now and my husban and I were raised by our parents in the heart of south central. what was figueroa, vermont, slauson, broadway,gage, crenshaw, martin lutherking, and hoover st. I read the L.A. times everyday, just to see whats goign on in the city of angels but, its never up to no good. Its more violence, its worts, I really do hope that all of the families of the victims find justice, and for all the hardworking detectives may your hearts be bless, so you can give confort to all of the families that are in need of it. thank you for your time sincerly Selene

[Sad but True]

After reading the posts, there does not appear to be any real solution, and that is sad and extremely disappointing.

I am fortunate to live in a relatively safe location in Hollywood, and probably have no right to share my views, but do you really think all these killings are of the highest priority to our city leaders. If they were, do you not think they would do more to stop the violence?

The way I see it, is that the city leaders see the gang murders and killings as a type of way to control the population. Who cares if another black/latino gang member gets killed, they certainly don't. The innocent victims caught in the cross fire are simply collateral damage. I think this is deplorable, but from the lack of empathy shown by our community leaders, it does seem to support my conclusion.

It appears that the main goal is not to stop the violence, but simply to control it. Control means to keep the number of killed "reasonable", with the main goal of keeping it contained within the poor communities, because the majority of society could care less of whats going on in the ghetto. God forbid if the violence entered the more affluent communities, could you imagine the damage to our LA image and tourism?

[Rob]

I think its a leap for the commenter from Hollywood to suggest that city officals do nothing because they "see the gang murders and killings as a type of way to control the population". However, we do need our city leaders to actually start leading. And that means making some hard and unpopular decisions. How about completely banning gun and ammunition ownership in the city and putting weapon traffickers away like drug dealers? How about putting CCTV on every street corner?

[Darren]

More killings ..and meanwhile...the Mayor cant stop taking photo ops and interviews everytime you turn the tv on..he is there ...he should be running the city not press conferences every two minutes ..and im sure the murders would drop if they got the same attention as poisoned pet food.

Theres no place like LA

[Tammie Jenkins]

The killings in South Central Los Angeles has gotten far beyond control. There's a war going on right here on U.S. soil and nothing is being done about it. It's a war between the black, the brown and the ugly (gov't). While Bush is over there trying to liberate Iraq, he should be trying to get his home, "the U.S" in order first. How many more guns are going to end up in the hands of teens? Almost every other teenager has access to an illegal weapon. And I'm not talking about pistals. They have access to machine guns. Back in the day you use to hear about one or two people getting shot, but now you hear about 5 people, a baby, a 5 year old with her father, and two teens standing at the bus stop were shot and 11 others wounded. We don't need LAPD to patrol the streets of LA, we need the national guards. It's all about surviving the streets of LA now days. Hoping you don't catch a bullet while on your way from work.

[Jay Ingram]

It is very sad what is going on here, everyday either hispanic or black people are getting killed basically because of their skin color. I am a white guy and I could not imagine what it's like to live like people that live in these areas do. Everyday is a worry about whether you are going to live or die. My question first is where are these so called "black leaders" like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson? Black people stand in unity when Don Imus says something idiotic but a black kid dies for being, well BLACK or even being from a different block than he is walking on at the present moment. Why are they not in an uproar over the loss of life every single day...but you let a old idiotic white guy say something stupid and BAM they are in front of every camera wanting justice. Why are black people not calling them out on this. Also, for you guys that are saying let's call in the National Guard...come on you know as soon as that happened people would complain saying they were infringing on people's civil liberties. There are ways to stop violence....cameras and outlawing guns and holding people accountable for their actions in these neighborhoods but you know it's not going to happen. People always want easy fixes that don't interfere with their daily lives.

[Dick Raddatz]

The Government - City-County-State-Fed- has got to stop playing political correct politics.
The gangs are simply Terrorists - and should be dealt with as such - Prison with no parol and no outside contact -
The poor ignorant souls that say ban guns is the answer have no clue !!!!!
We have more gun laws now than Carter has Liver pills!! -- and the gang members do not shop at the local gun shop !!!
Such naive thinking is more than I can bear !!! - or understand - where the hell have these poeple been ?

[Janice Dixon]

My heart goes out to the family of the brother I'll never know. May God's love comfort you all in your time of sorrow. God Bless!

[Gabe Fuentes]

When I was a Times reporter a long time ago, I got a taste of what life was like for people in South Central. I went down there to interview the family of a murder victim who was killed for his souped-up VW Beetle. The car was his pride and joy, and some thug shot him for it. Anyway, I was driving through the neighborhood with one of his brothers, and we had to go around the block to get back to the house because the LAPD had roped off the street with yellow tape. While we had been out tooling around, someone shot some kid on a bike a block away from them. A detective named Paul Mize was working the crime scene. The brother saw the tape and just didn't know what to say. I was his guest that day, and a palpable sense of shame came over him. He explained that the shootings and the investigations of shootings, and the passing of the LAPD air unit overhead, were weekly if not daily occurrences in the neighborhood. He made some comments about how he couldn't believe he and his family lived there. They were fine people. Law-abiding people. They were powerless to do anything about the violence and lawlessness going on all around them.

[Durome Douglas]

I am so feed up with all the homicides in the L.A. area. What can be done as a solution to this problem? I know that there is no sim;ple answer. What can I do as a member of this community? I feel that lowering the homciide rate should law enfocements number one job. Last week it seems as if the whole L.A.P.D. was busy checking on vehicle registrations on parked car than attending to serious crimes. Seems as if thy were more interested having the O.P.G, towing people taking autos than working on serious crimes. I guest that this is how thy fill thier revenue coffers. I am wondering if this practice of impounding poor folk autos is in anyway helping to prevent serious crime in the community. Is this practice just for the lining of someones pockets. Plus the rudeness of the officer needs to be addressed

[Dee]

I have been reading the LA Times for years and feel such pain for what goes on there, and I'm a white girl from the suburbs in Tx. Maybe it's true that "the majority of society could care less of whats going on in the ghetto,' but I'm not sure. We just don't know what to do to help. But I remember stories and names of kids killed 2 years ago I could tell you about still - and it just keeps on. I don't know what the answer is, but I know I absolutely agree with the Sharpston/Jackson comment. For that matter, I've wondered why Oprah hasn't poured some attention into it. Someone needs to tell these stories, thanks for giving these victims a face & name.

[K.D.]

I spent many good years with Mr. Dixon and his death came as quite a blow to myself and my immediate family. When I started doing my research to find out what happened I came across this and noticed a comment by Janice Dixon. Janice, your brother was trying to locate you for years and shed many tears over the sister he hoped to know one day......allthough you two never met he carried a special place for you in his heart always!

[John]

What can be done???? More cops - more arrests - more gang members behind bars - more permits to carry a gun for law-abiding citizens - less political anti-gun rhetoric and more anti-CRIME action.

[veronica]

I AM DEEPLY SADDEN BY ALL THE HOMICIDES THAT GO ON EVERY DAY, IT DOESNT REALLY MATTER WHERE IT HAPPENS. I LIVE IN CARSON BUT GREW UP IN THE FLORENCE AREA FOR MANY YEARS AND STILL VISIT DUE TO FAMILY THAT LIVE STILL IN THE HEART AND SOUL OF L.A. I HAVE TEEN KIDS AND IT SCARES THE HEAVENS OUT OF ME HOW KIDS HAVE NO FEAR OF THE LORD NOW ADAYS.I GREW UP WITH THAT INSTILLED IN ME AND I MADE MY MISTAKES AND WAS NO NUN BUT I FELT THAT I WAS WRONG AND REMOSEFUL AFTER THE FACT, KIDS NOW ARE EASY TO PICK UP A WEAPON AND HURT SOMEONE THEY ARE VERY DISRESPECTFUL. IT'S A TRAGEDY THAT WE HAVE TO LOSE LOVED ONES FOR STUPID REASONS. OUR BOYS ARE AT A HIGHER RATE OF GETTING MURDERED THAN GIRLS AND WE HAVE TO FIND WAYS TO KEEP OUR KIDS OFF THE STREET AND MAKE CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIIES (AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS ETC ETC) BUT MOST OF ALL WE AS PARENTS HAVE TO TALK TO OUR KIDS ABOUT EVERYTING UNDER THE SUN BECAUSE IF YOU DONT THEN SOMEONE ELSE WILL BEAT YOU TO IT.LOVE YOUR KIDS UNCONDITIONALY AND LET THEM KNOW DAILY HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO YOU. OUR PRISONS ARE FULL OF MEN AND WOMEN, (AND STILL GROWING) WHO HAVE MADE MISTAKES SOME SMALL SOME BIG AND MOST OF THEM LEAVE THEIR CHILDREN HAVING TO BE RAISED BY SINGLE PARENTS AND WORST CASE CENARIO..THUGS. OUR BIGGEST WEAPON I BELIEVE IS PRAYER AND AS A COMMUNITY COME TOGETHER AND RAISE AWARENESS ON EVERYTHING. AND DONT BE AFRAID TO SPEAK YOUR MIND AS LONG AS WE DO IT WITH RESPECT AND PRAYER..

[PT]

I have worked in the South Los Angeles area for many years and know for a fact that the police cannot do it alone. Many times, almost always, there are multiple witnesses that NEVER talk to the police and help. It starts at home. If all the witnesses are not going to take a stand in their own neighborhood, this type of crime will continue. If these gutless gangmembers knew that the people would stand up and point them out, maybe they would think twice before doing the shooting, knowing that they will probably spend the rest of their life in prison. Yes it's taking a bold step, but without witnesses, you cannot solve cases and prosecute the guilty. There are many ways to help. Often times the police find out through annonymous sources who the shooters are but noone is willing to testify. So the police go on to the next case.