Standing Room Only As Residents, Officials Discuss Wednesday’s Shooting Attack

Over 150 Pasadena residents concerned about the Washington Park shooting this week attended an “emergency” meeting conducted by District 5 Councilmember Victor Gordo in conjunction with the the Washington Square Landmark District at Lake Avenue Church Thursday night.

Gordo was joined by Councilmember Margaret McAustin, City Manager Michael Beck, Chief of Police Phillip Sanchez, Fire Chief Bertral Washington and a number of police officers. Host Dr. Gregory Waybright , Senior Pastor of Lake Avenue Church, led off with a prayer as “we seek what’s best for our neighborhood.”.

During his remarks, Chief Sanchez provided the fullest accounting of the shooting yet made public and fielded questions from the audience.

Sanchez started with an apology.

“I have been frustrated to this point that we have not been able to stop this rash of shootings,” Sanchez said, referring to a number of shootings in Pasadena north of the 210 freeway which occurred in December and January.

“You have my apology for that.”

The police chief related a very detailed timeline of Wednesday evening’s shooting – unusual because a large number of shots were fired and a large number of people were in the park when the attack occurred.

Sanchez revealed that each of the two victims was shot many times. Other sources have indicated that one victim, Walter Reed, 26, was near death when transported to a local hospital. Reed remains alive Friday.

Sanchez said the shooting came as a number of people gathering the park for a wake, or “repass,” to honor a young man murdered in the Lancaster, California area. Sanchez said the mourners and victims likely knew the shooter.

The Chief’s timeline also revealed that city parks officer and a private armed security officer noticed the growing crowd earlier in the afternoon and reported the activity to police, which brought a Sergeant and a patrol officer to the park to monitor the gathering.

Those officers were so close to the shooting that one was able to reach the victims within 40 seconds of the shootings. The suspect, however, melted into the fleeing crowd and escaped.

Residents expressed reactions to the city officials.

Numerous residents complained that city cutbacks to parks officers had resulted in unusual goings on and loitering in park and on nearby local streets.

One woman explained the difficulty of monitoring the park lies in its terrain and design: the park is not clearly visible in full from the street, due split levels and trees. With so many major parts of the park obscured, she said, the only way to patrol it for safety is to get out the car and walk it fully.

Other residents asked if the park could be scanned by live video cameras or civilian patrols.

Councilmember Gordo told the gathering he wants the parks come under firm control as quickly as possible and has asked that the City Council schedule a public meeting to determine fast action.

“There are bad operators in our city — be they gang members or not. The police department assures me that they will get them under control,” Gordo said in an interview before the meeting. “I have confidence in our police department but if they don’t have the resources necessary to immediately provide additional security and safety officers at our parks, then we need to know that.”

“I’m asking this evening that the city council immediately agendize the matter for a public discussion. I think we need to increase security at our parks and in our neighborhoods,” Gordo said. “We need to immediately ensure that the parks like Washington Park have full time attention until the efforts of the police department get this matter fully under control.”

Mayor Bill Bogaard has not responded to an email request from Pasadena Now as to whether the discussion will be agendized.