GANGLAND GODFATHER

Two teenagers were fatally shot during a confrontation between street-gang members and partygoers in the Valencia Park neighborhood here, police said. Monique Palmer, 17, and Michael Taylor, 15, were at a party when gang members attempted to crash the event, San Diego Police Lt. Kevin Rooney said.The gang members displayed handguns and yelled gang challenges, Rooney said, before leaving. Shortly after midnight, Palmer, Taylor and several other partygoers were walking on the street when two young men confronted the group and began shooting, Rooney said. Palmer was declared dead at the scene; Taylor died at a trauma center at 1:36 a.m.

New evidence shows that Gang members shoot their victims at close range – an often deadlier method than drive-by shootings.San Diego police gang Lt. Jorge Duran said the fatal gang attacks last year – up 55 percent from 2006 – prompted an aggressive police response. It included adding officers to the gang unit and working closely with other agencies on large operations.The surge has helped keep gang homicides in the city down so far this year.“We've been successful at targeting the more violent gang members and locking them up,” Duran said.The SANDAG study also shows that homicide victims tended to be older last year. The number of victims ages 25 to 39 spiked to 42 percent, an 18 percent increase. Researchers say there are no other data to explain the reason behind the increase.Other trends worth noting: More than 25 percent of female rape victims were younger than 18. Children and young teens were suspects in one-third of robberies. 83 percent of homicide victims were men.Young ...