Gang violence

FBI: Middle school gang behind mob violence

The teens responsible for the mob violence in downtown Louisville last month were members of a gang of middle-school students, according to anFBI memo distributed to law enforcement agencies.

The memo, which the FBI says was based on "unverified intelligence," says that the gang — "Young 'N Off That," or YNO, was organized last summer at Frost Middle School but spread to other schools, and that its members are "armed in a major way."

The FBI memo also says there have been "rumblings" about the gang showing up in large numbers May 1 at the Kentucky Derby Festival Pegasus Parade. Louisville Metro Police spokesman Sgt. Phil Russell said at a news conference Wednesday that there have been threats of violence made against the Parade, but he would not elaborate.

Russell said the department is investigating assertions in the FBI memo, which was obtained by several news organizations, including The Courier-Journal.

Mary Trotman, chief division counsel for the FBI in Louisville, said in an interview that the FBI is evaluating the credibility of the information, which came from several sources. She said in an email to news outlets that the memo was intended only for law enforcement and distributed immediately to police "due to the fact it dealt with a threat of violence."

Trotman said the memo's contents are considered "law enforcement sensitive" and asked news outlets not to disclose its author, an FBI special agent.

Motive for revenge

The memo says that YNO also wants to "beat up" Anthony Allen, who was cleared of a murder charge when a grand jury decided he was acting in self-defense March 16 when he fatally stabbed 14-year-old Me'Quale Offutt — one of several teens who attacked Allen on a TARC bus after a verbal altercation.

But the FBI agent said YNO did not show up en masse at Waterfront Park March 22 to memorialize Offutt, as Police Chief Steve Conrad told the media, but instead to fight another local gang that believed to be TYS — for Trill Young Savages — whose members had been "talking smack" about Offutt.

"TYS members apparently didn't show, which is when the 'mob violence' ensued," the agent wrote.

The night of March 22, a group of teenagers assaulted at least four people at Waterfront Park and continued on a three-hour rampage through downtown, committing least 20 robberies, assaults and acts of vandalism.

Conrad told WHAS-TV Monday that his department was aware of the gang and said some of its members were possibly involved in the March 22 violence.

The FBI memo says the words "off that" in YNO's name is slang for "crazy or out of control."

The agent who wrote the memo said YNO members are various races but predominantly African American, and some are girls, although their role is not known.

More charges filed

Russell Wednesday that charges have been filed against two additional juveniles in connection with the March 22 mob violence.

Police arrested a 15-year-old boy Monday night and a 14-year-old boy Tuesday, charging them with robbing victims at the Bader's Food Mart on South First Street. Russell said police expect more charges to be filed.

Three adults and another juvenile had previously been arrested in connection with crime spree.

Police say 18-year-old Je'Rece M. Archie was "making furtive movements to his pants" during the March 22 mob violence on the Big Four Bridge.

When officers stopped him at gunpoint and ordered him to show his hands, he allegedly pulled a loaded revolver from his pocket; he dropped when ordered to by police. Archie and a 17-year-old friend were arrested on illegal weapons charges — the first arrests in the hours-long ordeal.

On March 28, police arrested Shaquazz E. Allen, 18, and Tyrone D. Booker, 19, on charges of assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal mischief.b

Police say Allen and Booker knocked a woman unconscious at First and Jefferson Streets the night of March 22 while the woman, her fiancé and five children were stopped in their vehicle at the intersection.

Sixth Division officers arrested Allen at his home, while Booker was apprehended at an undisclosed location by officers with the Home Incarceration Program.

Allen and Booker were previously arrested March 23, one day after the mob violence, for robbing a woman at a bus stop in the Shawnee neighborhood, police said.

Stepping up patrols

Since the March 22 violence, LMPD has increased its presence downtown, Conrad told the Louisville Metro Council safety committee Wednesday afternoon. The department is using mounted and river patrols to monitor Waterfront Park.

Metro Council President Jim King said at a meeting of the council's safety committee that he would like to see patrols centered around Fourth Street Live because it is a tourist hotspot.

Conrad said while there has been crime downtown since the mob violence, it has not been extraordinary. He said most juveniles do not give them trouble when confronted at night.

"Officers talk to kids who are out late, and for the most part they comply," Conrad said

But Dave Mutchler, president of the River City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 614, told the committee that the department is severely understaffed.

He said the department, which once 1,280, now has 1,169 sworn officers, and only about half are on the streets at any given time.

Multcher also told the committee that juvenile laws have rendered officers ineffective because they can not legally detain children in most instances.

Additional information:

http://www.wdrb.com/story/25205191/fbi-louisville-police-to-address-youth-gang-memo