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MCSO still investigating Laveen shooting neighbors say is gang related

Posted at 7:12 PM, Jul 06, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-06 22:34:34-04

Neighbors of a Laveen neighborhood say a deadly Fourth of July shooting is rumored to be gang related.

Investigators with MCSO haven’t confirmed those details, but ABC15 spoke with Arizona’s statewide Gang Task Force about the violence.

Detective K.C. Hill says gang fights, beatings and shootings will stem from just about anything between money and social media. Usually the violence will be directed toward rival gang members. However, innocent people can still be caught in the cross hairs.

"Shootings are often very indiscriminate. When we talk about drive by shootings on houses or people or groups of people, there's always going to be an innocent person who has nothing to do with anything getting caught in the middle of it. Sometimes they're injured and sometimes it's worse," said Det, Hill.

Hill has 20 years of law enforcement experience but more than a decade of that is part of the DPS task force.

“I have seen nothing in the history of gangs and nothing in my experience with gangs that has given me any indication of anything other than the fact that gang activity has increased across the country since it started," said Hill.

Hill says accurate numbers are hard to come by on exactly how many gangs are active inside of the Valley alone. But data suggests there are more than 1,000 gangs in the state of Arizona.