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Deangelo Oliver, 29, lay dead in the street late Friday after shots were fired in front of a Southeast Portland home. Two other men were wounded in the confrontation. Portland detectives say they believe the shooting about 11:30 p.m. in the 2400 block of Southeast 89th Avenue near Division Street began with an argument as two cars idled side by side. A second shooting early Saturday in downtown Portland left one person hurt, but police say they don't think the incident was related to the Southeast Portland shooting. In Friday's shooting, police arrived in the Montavilla neighborhood to find three people with gunshot wounds. Oliver was declared dead at the scene. The two others, whose names police withheld to protect their safety, were taken to hospitals, one in critical condition with a wound to the face and the other with a leg wound. Both are expected to recover, police said. Oliver's connection to the two men wasn't clear. The shooter called the family home Saturday...

Terrence "Squeaky" Richardson dealt drugs, randomly robbed people and killed his enemies as a leader of a "violent and notorious gang in Baltimore City," prosecutors said Monday during opening statements in a federal racketeering and drug conspiracy trial.And after he went to prison, they said, he ordered others to take care of business, directing them over mobile phones that were illegally smuggled into his cell."This case is about gangs, drugs and violence," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kwame Manley said in a repeated refrain Monday.On trial are Richardson and co-defendant Gregory Saulsbury, who is accused of trafficking cocaine, crack and heroin to customers as a "high-end" dealer, which allowed him to drive luxury cars as he made money hand over fist.Their attorneys said the evidence would not support the allegations. Richardson is accused of belonging to the Pasadena Denver Lanes set of the Bloods gang, the same group that killed a Baltimore Cou...

More than 20 people were hurt in the blast near the mayor's office and the local public prosecutor's building, the authorities say.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.Rebels and traffickers are active in the region which lies on a key cocaine smuggling route. The explosion has caused widespread damage in the centre of Buenaventura, Colombia's main Pacific port, local media report. "This is an unfortunate terrorist act," said army commander General Freddy Padilla, indicating he suspected it was the work of rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). President Alvaro Uribe, who leaves office this August, has pursued a tough security policy against the rebels during his years in office. They have been put on the defensive but they are still able to carry out attacks. In recent months, the Farc has increased its raids on military posts in the region. Buenaventura, which has easy access to the coast, has over the years ...

Police say it appears to be gang-related.Police spokesman Bruce Borihanh says the four were on a Pacoima street at about 10 p.m. Tuesday when several men approached and at least one opened fire. Detective Pat Barron says a man and a woman were hospitalized in critical condition and two men were in stable condition with non-life-threatening wounds. No arrests have been made.

Police believe the shootings have escalated beyond the conflict between rival Pembroke gangs Parkside and 42 that was blamed for a spate of gun murders late last year.It is understood that several of the recent incidents, including Friday's triple shooting, may not be directly linked to the two warring gangs.And the latest upsurge in violence across the island shows gangs outside the capital have also become embroiled in the conflict over turf and drugs.Well-informed street sources suggested the shooting outside Place's Place was linked to a pricing dispute between drug dealers, though police would not confirm this.James Lawes, a 26-year-old Jamaican who was killed in the incident, was not known to police as a key player in any gang. Sources told the Sun that Mr. Lawes was not believed to be the main target and his family say he has no connection to gangs or drugs.And some senior officers believe that several of the 40 shootings recorded this year were not specifically gang rel...

55 people had been murdered in the parish of St James. Most of the victims were annihilated by the gun. Most of them were young men. Most of them hailed from so-called squatter or informal settlements. And most of them were killed by persons in their own age group. This is a most frightening scenario that is not being sufficiently addressed by the powers that be. Why? I will continue to hold the cynical view that as long as these killings do not directly affect the tourism sector or the top echelons of the society, then nothing worthwhile is likely to happen. Indeed, as one fed-up cop told me recently, "Boss, might as well dem keep killing off one annoder. Less work for us and the courts." Add a few extra-judicial killings by the security forces to this sordid picture and it becomes clear that St James is fast becoming a wild, wild West neighbourhood.There was a time when people from rural Jamaica were afraid to go to Kingston. Persons living in Kingston looked forward to com...