Suspects In Murder Of Concord Teen Linked To 2nd Gang-Related Shooting
CONCORD (CBS SF) -- Concord police said Monday that a group of people believed to be responsible for the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy outside of Olympic Continuation High School earlier this month are also allegedly linked to a shooting that happened elsewhere in the city in October.
The killing of Lawrence Janson on Nov. 6 near the school at 2730 Salvio St. and the Oct. 13 shooting that injured a female Concord resident near Ellis Street and Clayton Road are both being investigated as crimes related to the MS-13 criminal street gang, police said.
Police made more arrests on Friday and now say six people in all are accused of one or both of the shootings.
Kristhiam Uceda, 20, of Concord, was charged by the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office on Nov. 9 for the murder of Janson and police said Uceda is now also accused of the October shooting.
Bryan Sermeno-Chachagua, 18, was previously charged earlier this month with hiding the gun after the shooting of Janson, but police said he is now also accused of murder.
Three 17-year-old boys have also been accused of Janson's murder and the October shooting, while the sixth suspect, also a 17-year-old boy, is accused of the earlier shooting but does not appear to have been present for the murder of Janson, police said.
Police previously said they did not believe the shooting was gang-related, but now say all six suspects are facing gang enhancements because they are allegedly associated with the MS-13 gang.
The shootings appear to be the first involving the gang in the city. "We have not had any prior incidents or police reports with MS-13 gang members," said Concord Police Lt. Mike Kindorf.
Police said this is new territory for its gang unit, as it looks for potentially more MS-13 members in Concord.
KPIX 5 security analyst and former FBI agent Jeff Harp says MS-13 starts recruiting children around the age of 11.
"The fact that they're moving into the suburbs isn't surprising to me," said Harp. "A lot of the enforcement efforts have been in the city areas. So when you got a lot of enforcement going on in the city, these guys are going to move their base of operations into places where they think they can do it."
Police used surveillance video to help find the suspects and were also able to recover the gun and vehicle believed to be used in the shooting.
A specific motive for the killing of Janson has not been released.
A GoFundMe page to raise money to support Janson's family has raised more than $12,300 as of this morning.
On the page, Janson's sister Trina wrote that "my brother was an amazing caring son, brother, uncle, grandson, and friend to many people. His memory will carry on through his family and friends."
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