Police worry gang-related death of 15-year-old is only the start following spike in drive-bys

The drive-by shooting that resulted in the killing of a 15-year-old boy last week has Spokane police worried.

Officers who focus on gang-related crime have seen a significant uptick in gang activity in Spokane, including among teens, possibly as an effect of financial hardship and schools being closed during the pandemic, said Spokane Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Terry Preuninger.

“You see the writing on the wall in other communities, then one kid gets killed here,” Preuninger said. “You don’t want to get used to that.”

Though police are hopeful public attention on the tragedy of Norvell Amos’ death will spur the community to pay attention to teens who need help, there’s another side.

“Rival gangs are saying, ‘I want to one-up that,’” said Spokane Police Department spokesperson John O’Brien.

Preuninger could not confirm a connection between Amos’ death and the gunfire that broke out between two vehicles a few blocks from Amos’ home Monday and injured two people because the investigation is ongoing, Preuninger said.

According to court documents, police had been aware of a dispute between Amos and a group calling itself Swavii prior to the fatal shooting. Preuninger declined to disclose details he said could affect the current investigation, but Spokane police have seen drive-by shootings spurred by issues as trivial as two men arguing over a woman or one insulting another.

With members all younger than 20, the gang started in Spokane about two to three years ago, Preunigner said. It’s an offshoot of a larger, “very organized” gang on the West Coast, Preuninger said.

Two of its suspected members have been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with Amos’ death, including the suspected shooter, a 16-year-old, and the suspected driver, 20-year-old Elijah Davis.

From what Preuninger and other police officers are seeing, drive-by shootings are becoming more frequent. Sometimes, though, he said it seems the public doesn’t move to address problems until tragedy strikes.

“Norvell was funny and loved by all of us,” Cassie Reifer wrote in the description of a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral costs, which had reached $2,500 as of Wednesday.

“We were seeing the spike in shootings months ago and putting the information out,” Preuninger said. “We knew if people keep shooting at each other, eventually somebody’s going to get hit.”

When police respond to a report of gunfire and find shell casings, often there’s not much more they find. And in shootings where an individual was targeted, Preuninger said, often the victim does not want to help police investigate.

In the case of Amos, there were escalations and missed opportunities to get law enforcement involved, he said.

City Council member Michael Cathcart said he believes the “revolving door” at the Spokane County Jail has emboldened criminals. Since the jail began reducing its population in March to prevent an outbreak within its walls, Cathcart said, many people are learning that their crimes don’t come with consequences.

To council member Lori Kinnear, drive-by shootings throughout Spokane have increased during the pandemic. Young people, she said, are especially vulnerable to joining gangs at this time.

“If you’re 12 or 13, how do you process all the stuff going on right now? That would be so difficult,” Kinnear said. “It really is on us, community leaders, to find ways to help people, especially children, deal with all that’s going on. They have no frame of reference.”

She noted the recent violence isn’t just a problem in East Central. Shootings have popped up all over Spokane. And though Amos was Black, gangs are mostly white in Spokane, she said.

She said people can start by reaching out to vulnerable kids and supporting them through mentorship. She recommended people volunteer for Spokane nonprofit Community Oriented Policing Services (C.O.P.S.) to keep an eye on their own neighborhood.

People who have information about local gangs can offer that information anonymously, Preuninger said, and they don’t need to include every detail when they first reach out to police. People can call CrimeCheck, email the department’s tipline at spdtipline@spokanepolice.org or submit an anonymous tip on the Stop Spokane Gangs website.

With schools shut down, Preuninger said community members can also help by mentoring young kids and paying attention to their own children. Parents should check their teens’ social media accounts, with the awareness that they often have secret Instagram accounts, and get to know their kids’ friends’ parents.

Cathcart said the City Council has not spoken directly about addressing gang violence, but his push for neighborhood policing could help prevent violence.

“I haven’t seen any discussion that I’ve been a part of anyway, regarding drive-by shootings or the uptick in crime and violence,” he said.

Under the neighborhood policing model, as opposed to more hot-spot-driven policing, the department would hire more police to work in neighborhoods. That way, he said, teens wouldn’t only see police when they respond to a call. They would build rapport with police, he said, and people might be more wary of firing a weapon knowing an officer is “always two blocks away.”

To Preuninger, it seems the rise in violent crime is directly tied to the pandemic, and it will take more than police to address it.

“For most of us, unless you’re 100 years old, this is the first time we’ve seen something like this,” he said, referring to the pandemic. “So we need to help our community get better.”