Sixteen suspected teenage gangsters in rival East Harlem crews were charged on Tuesday with terrorizing their innocent neighbors in a months-long barrage of gun violence.
Manhattan prosecutors allege in two massive charges that members of the “LA World” and “Wuski” gangs, the majority of whom are under the age of 18, were responsible for 21 separate shootings between March 2024 and this February.
The crews fired bullets down busy sidewalks and into building playgrounds and lobbies, accounting for more than half of the 23rd Precinct’s 38 shootings between March 25 and September 30, 2024, according to cops and prosecutors.
“For months, these gang members turned East Harlem into their personal battleground,” New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters. “And now their cycle of violence and retaliation is over.”
When police detained eight alleged criminals on Tuesday morning, they seized 15 illegal semi-automatic guns, including a pistol with a green laser, according to officials.
Four other accused crew members were already in jail, with four still at large Tuesday afternoon.
The brutal turf war began on March 24, 2024, when Harry Mendoza, a 25-year-old member of LA World, which is based in the New York City Housing Authority’s Lehman and AK Houses, was fatally shot beside a 16-year-old girl at Lexington Avenue and East 128th Street, according to officials.
Hours later, alleged LA World crew member Xavier Roberts — who is only 16 years old and has been charged with five shootings in a single week — shot five times into the lobby of a building in the nearby Johnson Houses, where the Wuskis live, piercing the front- door window, according to prosecutors.
Authorities said the violence escalated from there, often outside in broad daylight.
“Bullets were flying everywhere: on crowded street corners, near innocent bystanders, at playgrounds, near children, through the windows of a NYCHA lobby, a residential unit, and a bus stop,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told a press conference.
“This brazen disregard for the lives of others created an atmosphere of terror for any other group going about their daily business.”
Bragg said it was “particularly tragic” since thirteen of the alleged gangsters were under the age of 18 when the shootings occurred, but he termed the charges “a necessary step to achieve lasting public safety.”
Mayor Eric Adams, who attended the news conference, expressed surprise that a small group of teenagers was allegedly responsible for half of the neighborhood’s gun violence.
“Just 16 people accused of 50 percent of an entire precinct’s shootings—let that sink in,” the mayor stated. He continued, “We have to get the small number of people who repeatedly commit crimes off our streets.”
Nine suspected LA World members and seven alleged Wuski members face accusations of second-degree conspiracy with the purpose to murder, attempted murder, and criminal possession of a firearm.
The twelve suspected gang members in custody were scheduled to make their initial appearance before a Manhattan judge late Tuesday. Their lawyers could not immediately be reached.
