Hugo Chavez was shot four times, falling to the ground in his gravel driveway, while his younger brother drank beer in the back garden on a jasmine-scented July night in East Palo Alto.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in my bedroom when I heard the shooting in front of my house. I ran outside and saw my son on the ground. We didn\u2019t see who did it,\u201d Yolanda Chavez, who moved to the U.S. from Michoacan, Mexico, 17 years ago. She spoke to Catholic San Francisco as her 3-year-old granddaughter played in the grass in front of a candle- and-flower-decked shrine to her uncle. \u201cI don\u2019t have words to express this feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a car seat for the baby in his car,\u201d said Chavez\u2019s sister Irma Patricia Chavez, 31. \u201cHe really loved her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hugo Chavez, 26, was buried from St. Francis of Assisi parish, and on Aug. 19, pastor Father Lawrence Goode and four parish members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society stood with Chavez\u2019s mother, sister and two nieces to pray for him in the same driveway, his flower-and-candle decorated shrine on the lawn just inside the garden fence. The St. Vincent de Paul Society in East Palo Alto is very active in providing help with rent and food for low-income families, Father Goode said, to the extent of housing families in their own homes at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod of peace and justice, please send your healing spirit on this place, as we remember the violence and death which have occurred here,\u201d they prayed at the Chavez home and at three other sites where teens and young adults were murdered in East Palo Alto in July. Catherine Fisher, 19, died July 13; Jabari Banford, 23, died July 18; Chavez died July 19; and Kevin Guzman, 19, died July 24. In June another man was killed and in March 3-year-old Baby Isaac was shot.<\/p>\n
While a police spokesman was reluctant to say any specific death was gang-related, Father Goode said most believe the spike in violence is tied to gang activity, possibly directed from prison.<\/p>\n
The increase in violent deaths after a relative lull prompted two August meetings of a new community intervention, Operation Ceasefire, said East Palo Alto Police Capt. Federico Rocha, who was named to head the initiative in November. A \u201ccall-in\u201d was held in March and in April in response to the Baby Isaac killing, Rocha said.<\/p>\n
So far 10 California cities are using Operation Ceasefire, which invites or mandates attendance of targeted offenders to a meeting with law enforcement and community and social service representatives who present what will happen if they continue on the path of violence but offer help.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a comprehensive approach to addressing violence in the community,\u201d Rocha said. \u201cYou stand shoulder-to-shoulder in that effort. So it is not a cop thing, it is not a church thing, it\u2019s not a social worker thing \u2013 it is a community coalition speaking with one voice.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Check out more. <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A California initiative is seeking to stem the tide of gang-relateed violence, and churches are now playing a role. From Catholic San Francisco: Hugo Chavez was shot four times, falling to the ground in his gravel driveway, while his younger brother drank beer in the back garden on a jasmine-scented July night in East Palo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,48],"tags":[181,757],"class_list":["post-6482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-churches","category-the-people-in-the-pews","tag-california","tag-san-francisco"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n