A Newhall man was left in intensive care last month with a through-and-through gunshot wound to his pelvis after asking local gang members to stop tagging the Newhall apartment complex on Pine Street where he lived, according to court records.   The investigation into an Oct. 5 shooting details the latest in the ongoing violence within a cluster of Santa Clarita neighborhoods racked by gang activity that residents and investigators say has escalated since March 2023.  Two men were in the underground parking garage of their apartment complex after a long day’s work, sorting tools from a work truck, when the gang members came in looking for trouble, according to the detectives’ report from security footage and witness statements.  The two men tried to stop a group of at least 10 boys after they entered the garage and began filming themselves tagging the walls and causing problems around 7:30 p.m.  Through the use of surveillance footage and recollections from past encounters, Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies said they later identified several suspects as boys and men ranging from their early teens to early 20s who were in the same local street gang. At least four were younger than 16.  One of the victims asked the boys to not disrespect their home by tagging the walls, according to the victim’s statement to deputies.   The males responded “by saying something to the effect of, the area belonged to them, and it was their territory,” according to the report. “Both victims carried on with themselves and suddenly the group of males approached them.”  The victims were punched and kicked by the assailants until a suspect, identified by deputies as a 15-year-old gang member who lives on Valle Del Oro, pulled out a 9mm handgun and shot the victim, according to a detective’s report in a sworn affidavit.  As the victim fell to the ground, the group dispersed. He ultimately was placed in a medically induced coma for two days as a result of blood loss, according to investigators in their report.  Authorities respond to reports of an L.A. County sheriff’s deputy being hit by a vehicle near the intersection of Walnut Street and Walnut Cottage Lane on Tuesday night. Courtesy photo. Growing incidents  The Signal does not identify criminal street gangs at the behest of law enforcement officials, who have repeatedly stated the notoriety and attention only help gang members intimidate the community and create fear.  However, deputies recognize in court records the local gang in question “has been involved in and responsible for a great number of shootings and violent crimes in the past year all involving firearms.”  The detective also stated in his report that the juvenile appeared to have drawn the firearm and shot the victim without cause after the physical assault on him had concluded.  Local investigators stated the gang’s membership at 80 to 100, according to court documents, with 20 to 30 at any one time who are actively out committing crimes in the community.   “Those crimes range from, murders, assaults, robberies, burglaries, thefts, gun possession, drug-related crimes, vandalism, and other crimes,” according to SCV Sheriff’s Station officials, who also identified the apartment complex where the shooting happened as an area the gang has claimed.  It’s part of the complex, The Village Apartments, where a double murder in March 2023 was cited as a flashpoint in the recent reignition of the decadeslong gang rivalries in some of the SCV’s most hardscrabble communities.  A crime scene is taped off after a double-murder occurred at the community pool at The Village Apartments near the intersection of Newhall Avenue and Silverado Avenue in Newhall, Calif., on Saturday, March 18, 2023. Chris Torres/The Signal Village, Walnut Street taken by storm  A late-morning double murder by the community pool at The Village apartments is cited in a number of subsequent reports from officials as what marked a ratcheting up of the cycle of intimidation tactics, violence and retaliation, officials said.   The two suspects in that shooting, 16-year-old Steven Rosas and 19-year-old Anthony Martinez Ortiz, are due back in court in January for their next hearing dates.  By December, deputies had recorded evidence of a number of retaliatory actions, ranging from violent threats posted to social media to subsequent shootings.  While much of the violence has been tied to gang activity, residents have repeatedly expressed concerns because they say other gang members are not the only ones being victimized.   In June, Walnut Street resident Juan Ruiz expressed his frustration with the violence, speaking through an interpreter.  “It’s a big problem,” he said in Spanish. “You can hear the blasts in the night and then police arrive but they don’t arrest anyone.”    He said he wasn’t that worried for himself because he doesn’t go out much, but for younger people and potential innocent bystanders, he was.  There have been numerous arrests made involving more than one of the local gangs believed to be involved in the area’s criminal activity, the result of countless hours of investigative work by local deputies and detectives, which has led to dozens of charges.   Detectives also have lamented the difficulties in some circumstances where witnesses have been hesitant to come forward due to fear of the violence they just saw.  In July, yet another fatal shooting, which had followed weeks of similar incidents, prompted an outcry from residents. The Signal put together a timeline of the violence that showed more than a dozen incidents of gun violence on a single street, Walnut, which is also claimed by a local gang.  In October, court records obtained by The Signal alluded to a gang “power struggle” that might have played a role in the increasing violence.  The activity there is well-known to the SCV Sheriff’s Station’s Juvenile and Gangs Unit, or JAG Team.   The post More violence from The Village  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.