PLEASE READ STORY FROM PRESS DEMOCRAT

The following story was printed in the Santa Rosa's Press Democrat. Maddie and I drove at this intersection on our way to Apple Valley last Thursday night about 4 hours before this murder took place. If you are not coming to outreach, please pray for these teenagers and for the violence to cease! If you are coming to outreach, remember to please follow our RAVEN guidelines and not get too comfortable~ rememer where we are ministering and be aware~ wear your black RAVEN shirts so the police in the neighborhoods can identify us as a group~ the climate will be intense in the next few weeks. Also, the comments to this story found on the internet are heartbreakingly filled with racism and hate. Please pray for our city to turn their hearts and minds away from hatred and focus on JESUS~ Please consider what God would have you do after reading this story and seek the kingdom of GOD in this situation~ move with compassion, not hate! Please pray that the Lord will have mercy on this young man's life. SR teen shot in head dies
Police investigate killing as gang crime; makeshift memorial erected
By MARY CALLAHANAND JEREMY HAYTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A 16-year-old Santa Rosa boy died early Saturday from injuries suffered in what appears to be a gang-related shooting, police said.


Jose Ayala Ramirez, known on the street as "Penguino," died from a single gunshot wound to the head, Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Craig Schwartz said.Ramirez was riding with three other Sonoma County teens - one only 13 - in a car on Westberry Drive when it was targeted by multiple gunshots from another vehicle at about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, police said.A neighbor reported hearing yelling in the street before the gunfire, but the specific motive and suspect identities were not yet known Saturday."We are investigating it as a gang crime, and we're still in the midst of trying to follow up leads and look for witnesses," said Schwartz, who supervises the police department's gang crimes investigation unit.Saturday evening, about two dozen people stood by a makeshift cross at Lance Avenue and Guerneville Road, near where the 16-year-old was shot.The streets enclose a field of dry brown grass partially surrounded by a barbed wire fence and mounted on the wire were a blue bandana, a small Mexican flag, a wood rectangle on which was written "RIP Jose" and another that said "RIP Penguino."The group kept a wary eye on passing traffic. None would comment. They ranged in age from young teens to mid-20s.A Virgin of Guadalupe candle stood on top of the cross. Lilies were taped to the cross, too, and a vase of red roses stood at its base, as well as two 16-ounce beer cans.A piece of paper bearing a photograph of Jose was held in place by a blue bandana. He appeared pale in the photograph, against a blue background on which the works "Santa Rosa" were visible.There was talk of where to post fliers bearing the dead boy's photograph and information about helping his family pay for the cost of the funeral."Elsie Allen and Piner," a girl said. "Montgomery," said a boy, "everywhere."The black Ford sedan of the county's gang task force drove by. Later, it returned and parked behind the group, and from the front seat a sheriff's deputy videotaped the gathering. The group turned its back to the car."Turn around, don't let them take pictures of you," someone said.A girl raising money for the dead boy's family held a boy closely, obscuring his face."This fool has probation," she said.Soon, she led him across the street and later returned without him.Sonoma County Sheriff's Sgt. Lorenzo Duenas, who leads the gang task force, said the officers responded to a call from a citizen that gang members were gathering."The majority of them were known gang members," he said.The remaining shooting victims, whose names are being withheld to protect them, have been unable to provide many clues, Schwartz said."It's still an open case that we're actively working, but there are no really good new leads that I can talk about that we're pursuing more actively than any others," he said.