4 Arrested in Slaying on Bus; Gunman Sought

Police have arrested four suspects in the slaying of a teenage girl on an MTA bus and will ask the district attorney’s office to charge all of them with murder, authorities said Thursday.

Two other suspects--a 16-year-old believed to be the gunman and a 20-year-old alleged instigator of the gang-related melee that took Corie Williams’ life--remain at large, police said.

New details made Corie’s random death even more painful. The gunman did not know the rival gang member he was trying to shoot, let alone Corie and another girl he wounded, police said. All he knew was that his intended target was riding through his South-Central Los Angeles territory in the midst of an escalating gang feud, police said. In addition, a bus route change may have contributed to the tragedy.

All six suspects should be charged with murder because they and other members of their gang had been planning to attack an enemy gang member for some time, said Lt. John Dunkin of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“It was not happenstance or a spur-of-a-moment thing,” he said.

Police identified the gunman as a 4-foot-6, 80-pound African American last known to have lived in the vicinity of 120th Street and Broadway. The man who police believe instigated the melee is Wilbert Eric Pugh, a.k.a. “Li’l Evil,” a 5-foot-7, 110-pound African American last known to have lived in the vicinity of 118th and San Pedro streets.

Police took the unusual step of releasing the suspected gunman’s name after obtaining a Juvenile Court judge’s approval. State law prohibits law enforcement agencies from identifying suspects under 18 unless there is evidence they pose a threat to public safety. The Times generally does not publish the names of juvenile crime suspects unless they are officially charged with a serious crime for which they could be prosecuted as an adult.

Police Chief Willie L. Williams said during a Thursday evening news conference that the LAPD decided to release the juvenile’s name because of the “atrocious, violent nature of the crime.” He also appealed for public assistance in apprehending the two at-large suspects.

“We believe it is essential for the safety and security of the public that these two individuals be taken off the street,” Williams said.

However, police would not release photographs of either wanted suspect, saying they did not want to be accused in court of tainting independent eyewitness identification.

The attack occurred Jan. 16 when 17-year-old Corie and classmate Tammi Freeman, 18, were riding the MTA’s Route 53 home from Centennial High School in Compton.

Police said Pugh got on the bus at Avalon Boulevard and Imperial Highway, recognized a rival gang member on board by the clothing he was wearing, taunted him and exchanged gang signs and epithets. With the bus still stopped, Pugh got off, and the 16-year-old allegedly fired a number of shots from a large semiautomatic handgun into the right side windows of the bus, which had about 50 people on board, police said.

Corie, scheduled to graduate in June, died from a wound to the neck. Freeman was wounded in the shoulder and is recovering at home.

In a massive predawn operation involving nearly 70 officers, police Thursday arrested two of the suspects, ages 17 and 20. A third suspect, a 15-year-old boy, turned himself in to police Thursday afternoon, accompanied by his uncle and an attorney. Later in the day, police announced that a fourth suspect, another 15-year-old boy, had been in custody since Saturday and has been charged with murder and attempted murder.

Police said they would not identify the lone adult suspect in custody until he is formally charged because the investigation is ongoing.

Dunkin said the probability of gang violence on Route 53 was inadvertently increased when the line’s route was changed.

The bus used to drive through a portion of Central Avenue that was claimed as gang turf by a group from the area around Centennial High School. Recently, the route was changed so that the bus now travels through rival gang territory, including the intersection of Avalon and Imperial Highway, police said.

“That rival gang didn’t like it and they’ve been talking about doing something about it for some time,” Dunkin said.

In the days leading up to the shooting, Dunkin said, a group of gang members--possibly including some of the suspects--would stand at Avalon and Imperial, yelling and spitting at Route 53 as it went by.

“It was escalating,” Dunkin said.

Police have extensively interviewed the alleged gang member who was the intended target and are convinced that the suspects were not looking for him, Dunkin said. “It was a matter of he belonged to one gang and they belonged to another, and the colors were enough to ignite the confrontation.”

Police said they believe that the 16-year-old alleged gunman remains in the Los Angeles area, lacking the means to leave. They were less certain about Pugh’s whereabouts.

Saturday’s arrest of the first suspect was kept secret because police did not want to let the other suspects know they were on their trail, Dunkin said.

Basil Kimbrew, a member of the Compton Unified School District board, said he has spoken to Corie’s mother, Loretta Thomas-Davis, about the arrests. “She was just relieved,” he said.

After originally being critical of the LAPD for giving more attention to the slaying of entertainer Bill Cosby’s son, Ennis, which occurred the same day as Corie’s slaying, Kimbrew praised police.

“I’m very glad to see the very fine work and the very quick work that was done,” he said.