Four shootings in 32 hours leave residents on edge in Mountain View, Mount Hope

The gunfire erupted over a span of 32 hours in the Mountain View and Mount Hope neighborhoods of San Diego. The violence — four shootings Feb. 15 and 16 — left a 27-year-old man dead and three other men and one woman injured.

Police said the shootings were the result of a feud between at least two gangs.

The turmoil has residents on edge in the two neighborhoods in southeastern San Diego, where some community members are attempting to restore peace between the gangs and others are trying to establish programs to steer youth away from crime.

Some residents and business owners say they want police to patrol their neighborhoods more often in an effort to discourage more violence. That notion is not shared among many police reform advocates who want police to have a smaller presence in certain neighborhoods, especially communities of color.

Several residents say the city should not rely on police to discourage gun violence and instead invest in a wide range of resources to address the social and economic inequalities that fuel crime.

The first of the four recent shootings happened Feb. 15 about 1:50 p.m. on Boundary Street in Mount Hope. The gunfire shattered glass that cut a 40-year-old man in a vehicle.

Nearly an hour later, three gunmen walked up to two men outside Mike's Market on Ocean View Boulevard in Mountain View and opened fire. One of the victims — 27-year-old Jimmie Lee Roberts III — was killed and a 54-year-old man was wounded, police said.

Around 12:25 p.m. the next day, a 24-year-old man was shot and wounded not far from the northern entrance to Mount Hope Cemetery. Hours later, about 9:30 p.m., another shooting outside Mike's Market — where a memorial for Lee Roberts was set up — left a woman in her 20s wounded during an altercation, police said.

Community members said they believe the shootings were provoked when someone tampered with a memorial for three men who were killed Feb. 12 in a crash in Chula Vista. In between the shootings that ensued, the gangs apparently retaliated against each other at Mount Hope Cemetery, where a tombstone was dug up and stolen and then another tombstone was damaged.

Police confirmed the theft and damage.

Police asked officers on the Special Operations Unit, which previously functioned as the Gang Suppression Unit, to increase patrols in Mount Hope and Mountain View in response to the recent shootings.

San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, whose district includes Mount Hope and Mountain View, acknowledged in a statement the recent gun violence and its impacts on his constituents.

"For many right now, there is fear and uncertainty," Elo-Rivera said.

"We're working closely with residents community partners and law enforcement to find solutions that will create safety for all," he said.

He pointed to a memo he drafted in January that laid out his priorities for the budget for the fiscal year that begins in July. The memo outlines ideas for initiatives to keep youth engaged in activities and away from violent crime, including violence prevention programs, travel opportunities, job training and counseling, and mental health services.

Mountain View resident Howard Cuarezma, a 38-year-old medical lab supervisor, said he doesn't feel safe in his own neighborhood.

"All we do is live here. We don't hang out here," said Cuarezma, who is raising two children with his wife. "There's no sense of safety."

He added: "There's no way I would go on a run around my neighborhood. It's gotten really out of hand.

"When is it going to be enough?"

Cuarezma said he believes that for now the only immediate solution to quell the gun violence is policing. "There needs to be to be some police presence ... so things can simmer (down)," he said.

But in the long run, he said, the city needs to invest in communities like Mountain View, with everything from housing to much-needed upgrades to parks and recreation centers. Mountain View Park, where Cuarezma used to play soccer and basketball, hasn't seen improvements — except for upgrades to a playground area — in more than 20 years, he said.

"Whoever is allocating these (funds)," he said, "I wish they would look our way."

Community activists and police reform advocates have called on the city to take funds from the police budget and instead invest the money in community programs and services to address the root causes of gun violence. The San Diego Police Officers Association has largely objected to budget cuts, calling for money to hire and retain more officers.

The city has resisted calls for a smaller police budget. Last summer, Elo-Rivera and Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe lobbied unsuccessfully to shift $6 million in police overtime funding to other priorities.

Malcolm Muttaqee, of Pillars of the Community, said he and other members of a coalition — the Community Budget Alliance — want the city to disband the Police Department's Special Operations Unit and invest its budget in programs and services for youth, such as counseling and opportunities to travel abroad. Muttaqee said the Special Operations Unit has not suppressed gang violence — a problem it targets — and instead engages in policing that results in racial profiling and "over-policing."

Muttaqee said that regardless of whether the city disbands the unit, what matters is that the city invest in youth, who need to stay busy to stay out of trouble.

At Bridge Church on Teak Street in Mountain View, programs and services seeking to uplift and improve the quality of life of residents are on the way. Pastor Steve Marron said the church plans to open an on-site community center in late April to offer exercise (think boxing) and performing arts classes, as well as tutoring and marital counseling. The church also plans to host food banks at the center.

"There's such a pressing need to provide alternative activities for our youth, who through the pandemic have lost a sense of community, their sense of purpose, their sense of direction," Marron said. He hopes the center will allow youth to explore their talents and, in turn, "find a better path for their life."

He said his congregation has expressed a mix of emotions over the recent gun violence, including sadness, disappointment, anger and hope.

"I think everybody wants solutions, and we want to provide a solution," Marron said of the soon-to-open community center.

For now, some community members are trying to restore peace among gangs and support grieving families — the family of the victim in the recent homicide, the families whose loves ones' burial sites were damaged and the families of the three men killed in the Chula Vista crash.

Bishop Cornelius Bowser, of Charity Apostolic Church, a former gang member who works with others to discourage gang-related violence, said he and others he works with hope to connect with the major players to dissuade them from more retaliation. They also plan to help families repair the damaged graves of their loved ones as a way to restore the peace.

"That's a way to bring healing to both sides," Bowser said.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.

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