Germantown Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Music Studio Shooting

...According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office (MCSAO), in Aug. 2020, Marvin Frazier, 24, shot a 19-year-old man at a music studio along Montgomery Village Avenue.

The victim became paralyzed from the waist down. Also, Frazier pistol-whipped a 20-year-old man. He fled and was apprehended last year.

Frazier and the victims are associated with rival gangs, according to MCSAO. According to charging documents, Frazier is a validated gang member of Black Mob and one victim is a validated member of the rival gang Hittsquad...

Germantown Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Music Studio Shooting - Montgomery Community Media (mymcmedia.org)

...the girl was a human trafficking victim within the ‘Pinos Locos’ clique of MS-13, which made the suburban town of Wheaton its hub for illegal dealings.

Police: 'MS-13 associate' pays gang $100 to have sex with trafficked 14-year-old girl

...Detectives explain the girl worked as a cocktail waitress at Lilly’s Restaurant in downtown Wheaton. Her primary duty there was to “conduct cocaine and marijuana sales, and serve alcohol to customers,” a high-ranking MS-13 member would ultimately tell detectives in exchange for more favorable treatment. “A lot of money was made for her services.”

In one instance, the girl attempted to quit. She was later summoned to a home along Valley View Avenue in Kensington and beaten in the backyard with a baseball bat. The girl recalled more than 25 excruciating blows to her body. Such attacks were used as a form of “motivation” to keep girls in line, the same high-ranking MS-13 member explained.

“Many of the victims are under the age of 18 and have been reported by their families as missing persons,” police outlined in court documents. “Often, these females are brainwashed into believing that they need to depend on the gang for survival.”..

@ABC7Kevin Jul 23 More NEW: MoCo 🚔 use map to highlight areas w/ highest amount of gang-related crime this year:

NEW: MoCo 🚔 use map to highlight areas w/ highest amount of gang-related crime this year:

•Overall violent gang-related crime up 72% compared to last year

•Montgomery Village + Gaithersburg most affected

•MS13 prevalent near Piney Branch/University Blvd. + downtown Wheaton pic.twitter.com/McR67UK2mK

— Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) July 23, 2018

A ticking time bomb’: MS-13 threatens a middle school, warn teachers, parents, students

...Gang-related fights are now a near-daily occurrence at Wirt, where a small group of suspected MS-13 members at the overwhelmingly Hispanic school throw gang signs, sell drugs, draw gang graffiti and aggressively recruit students recently arrived from Central America, according to more than two dozen teachers, parents and students. Most of those interviewed asked not to be identified for fear of losing their jobs or being targeted by MS-13.

Although administrators deny Wirt has a gang problem, the situation inside the aging, overcrowded building has left some teachers so afraid that they refuse to be alone with their students. Many said they had repeatedly reported incidents involving suspected gang members to administrators, only to be ignored — claims supported by documents obtained by The Washington Post.

“Teachers feel threatened but aren’t backed up. Students feel threatened but aren’t protected,” one educator said. “The school is a ticking time bomb.”..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-ticking-time-bomb-ms-13-threatens-a-middle-school-warn-teachers-parents-students/2018/06/11/7cfc7036-5a00-11e8-858f-12becb4d6067_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5c74eb0c50ca

They blamed the Gaithersburg teen for the death of their clique’s leader,

MS-13 members threatened to cut off teen’s fingers and burn her, prosecutors say. Then she was killed.

One MS-13 member clicked a cigar cutter open and closed with a metallic ring, while another told the 15-year-old they would cut her fingers off, the prosecutor said. Another gang member asked where the gasoline was so they could burn the girl up.

Ten members and associates of MS-13 lured Damaris A. Reyes Rivas to a Springfield park in January because they wanted revenge. They blamed the Gaithersburg teen for the death of their clique’s leader, Christian Sosa Rivas, whose body had been dumped in the Potomac about a week earlier.

Venus Romero Iraheta, 17, who was Sosa Rivas’s girlfriend, told Damaris her fate would be the same.

“Venus told her she was going to die that day as Christian did — in the cold,” Fairfax County Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Katherine Stott said in a Fairfax County courtroom Tuesday...

...Damaris’s killers were remorseless, capturing her final minutes in gruesome cellphone videos...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/ms-13-associates-plead-guilty-in-connection-with-brutal-revenge-killing-of-gaithersburg-teen/2017/10/17/05d0c652-b284-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.6cefaa33b2e1


‘A hole in our hearts’: A 15-year-old girl lost to MS-13 is laid to rest

...There was no mention of MS-13 on Thursday, but fear of the gang, known in El Salvador as Mara Salvatrucha, was everywhere. At least six Gaithersburg police cars were positioned around the St. Rose of Lima church. Plainclothes police attended the funeral — their guns bulging beneath suit jackets — and uniformed officers watched over the burial from a distance.

Perhaps because of the fear of violence, the pews were mostly empty. About 50 people attended, primarily family members plus a few of Damaris’s friends and teachers from Watkins Mill High School...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-hole-in-our-hearts-a-15-year-old-girl-lost-to-ms-13-is-laid-to-rest/2017/03/23/1aae66b4-0ff6-11e7-9d5a-a83e627dc120_story.html?utm_term=.029963aec874

“We got 16-year-old kids ordering murders in Montgomery County. We got 15 and 16-year-old kids committing murders in Montgomery County, so I think we need to be more proactive,” McCarthy said.

http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2017/07/montgomery-co-home-to-local-hit-squad-gang-ms-13-homicides/slide/4/

School official: Social media a bigger problem than gangs

Student posts on social media lead to a lot of fights in schools, according to a local school safety leader.
“We’re dealing with so many issues day in and day out, and acts of violence and students being attacked based on what’s out there on their social network,” said Wayne Ferrell, a cluster security coordinator for Montgomery County Public Schools.
At a meeting last week about gangs hosted by the group Safe Silver Spring, Ferrell said social media is actually a bigger problem than gangs.
He said the schools’ new, state-mandated Code of Conduct, combined with an influx of new students who fled violence in other countries, set up what looked like a “perfect storm.”...

http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2016/04/school-official-social-media-a-bigger-problem-than-gangs/

Montgomery Co. teen, lured to the woods and stabbed, becomes latest victim of gang-related killings

Members of the violent MS-13 street gang enlisted a 19-year-old girl to lure another teenager into a darkened Montgomery County park where he was stabbed more than 40 times and killed, according to police accounts of the county’s 10th gang-related killing in the last 10 months.
The accounts, filed this week in Montgomery District Court, underscored the horror of the slaying, with at least three assailants — one of them just 16 years old — who either held down the victim or repeatedly stabbed him.
“We really are seeing an unprecedented level of gang-related homicides,” said Capt. Paul Liquorie, director of the Montgomery Police Department’s Special Investigations division.
In one of the suspected MS-13 killings last year in the county, assailants allegedly threw heavy rocks down on the victim as he crawled away from an attack toward a stream, according to court records. In another, the victim was told, “Get on your knees,” before being shot in the face, neck and shoulder while in the woods.
In the latest case — the June 16 death of Cristian Antonio Villagran-Morales, 18, in Malcolm King Park in Gaithersburg — police arrested two suspects late last week, and are looking for two more...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/a-maryland-teen-lured-to-the-woods-becomes-latest-gang-related-murder-victim/2016/07/07/fd004542-43f9-11e6-bc99-7d269f8719b1_story.html?postshare=8061467896127098&tid=ss_tw-bottom

Gang members younger in Montgomery Co.

...The county saw a spike in gang-related murders late last year. There were eight gang-related deaths in Montgomery County last year, up from one in 2014. One victim was just 15.
“We’re seeing younger and younger recruitment,” Liquorie said.
“Social media plays a big role in this, whether it’s identification or recruitment.”
A video police recently found online shows a group of young people who claim to be gang members showing off weapons for the camera.
The weapons included a stolen .308 rifle, and a semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine that could hold 30 rounds of ammunition.
It was filmed during the daytime in a pedestrian tunnel under Shady Grove Road...

 http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2016/04/montgomery-co-police-talk-ongoing-gang-problem/

Rice: "Unfortunately...we're seeing rise...gangs...recruitment in middle and high schools...MS-13"

Our third installment from the January 11, 2016, off-camera, off-site Montgomery County Council retreat.  

In this clip from the retreat, Councilmember Craig Rice gives an update from the Council's Education Committee. 

"MS-13 wants to get their territory back."

Blair Principal Disputes Police Report and Video, Finally Sends Letter Home to Parents

From ABC7 - Full video of Blair High School brawl referenced in above news story. According to the Blair Principal, there are only 10 students involved.  Watch the video and post in the comments how many students you can count in this video that are involved in this first period event (class had already started.

Video is on left side of page at this link:

http://wjla.com/news/local/only-on-7-gang-rivalry-sparks-massive-brawl-at-silver-spring-high-school

Charging documents explain large fight at Montgomery Blair HS. Police say gang dispute instigated brawl. @ABC7News

Charging documents explain large fight at Montgomery Blair HS. Police say gang dispute instigated brawl. @ABC7News pic.twitter.com/G8XTkw0T2V

— Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) December 23, 2015

http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2015/12/only-on-7-gang-rivalry-sparks-massive.html

ONLY ON 7: Gang rivalry sparks massive brawl at Silver Spring high school

SILVER SPRING, Md. (ABC7) — SILVER SPRING, Md. (ABC7) -- A gang dispute set the stage for an altercation at Montgomery Blair High School that injured staff members and involved more than 100 students, Montgomery County Police say.
According to charging documents filed in Montgomery County District Court, on December 3, Malik Blythers, 18, picked a fight with a rival gang member in a second-floor hallway. It happened around 7:45 a.m., moments after the first period bell rang....




...Blythers, who is now facing criminal charges of disturbing school operations and disorderly conduct, is an alleged member of the "Maple Avenue Street Crew," which fights for turf in Takoma Park and parts of Silver Spring...

Montgomery County Grappling With Spike in MS-13 Gang Activity

"It is unclear whether the students still attend Sherwood."

Two Montgomery County high school students have been charged as adults in a vicious gang-related beating of a 15-year-old boy outside a restaurant in Olney, according to documents filed in court Monday and last week.
The victim in the March 27 attack, which was caught on cellphone video, suffered cheekbone fractures, was knocked unconscious and was left with a severe concussion. “He’s doing better. He’s out of the hospital,” his father, a physician, said Monday, adding that it was unclear whether his son would suffer long-term effects from the concussion. “Who knows? We’re just crossing our fingers he gets better quickly.”...

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/montgomery-teens-charged-as-adults-in-reported-gang-beating/2015/04/06/180ce16a-dc72-11e4-be40-566e2653afe5_story.html?wprss=rss_crime&tid=sm_tw_pl

Montgomery County Police Department, said police are currently tracking 33 gangs

Gazette:  Montgomery security teams prep for start of school

Sessions focus on drugs, gangs, other threats

...His audience Friday at Northwest High School in Germantown was about 20 school security staff from Montgomery County Public Schools, who were there to get an update on some of the groups that will be partly their responsibility when school opens on Monday...

Gangs At Richard Montgomery HS?

Are there really GANGS at Richard Montgomery High School? According to today's Washington Post, it would seem so. In an article about the recent shooting at the Rockville Metro Station, the Post reported the following:

Nguyen was charged as an adult with attempted murder, along with 17-year-old Tavares Harris, who police say gave Nguyen the gun. Both boys attend Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, one of the top schools in the county, officials said. Both suspects, as well as the victim, are members of gangs, Feeney said in court. He did not say what, if any, role that played in the shooting.

Just a couple of questions for the MCPS $10 million dollar public relations department: 1. Was the gun used in the shooting ever on the RMHS campus? Has an investigation been done? 2. Exactly how many gangs are active at RMHS? 3. What efforts are being made at RMHS to address the issue of gangs? (or, as Montgomery County likes to call them, "criminally oriented youth subculture." The first priority, before everything, should be safety in schools.