Redlands residents mourn slain teenagers with prayer march, vigil

Published Jan 12, 2011 8:07 AM

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Mourners converged in Redlands on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011 to pay their respects to two teenage boys who were were killed in a gang shooting near Oxford Street, north of Colton Avenue. Police said the teens - Quinn McCaleb, 17, and Andrew Jackson, 16 - were shot by a suspected Latino gang member. The mother of one victim believes the incident was racially motivated. Two others were wounded in the attack.

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Over a thousand people joined a prayer walk and vigil in Redlands Tuesday night to honor a pair of teenagers gunned down last week. Police are still looking for the gunman that killed 17-year-old Quinn McCaleb and 16-year-old Andrew Jackson.

The prayer walk and vigil started outside the north Redlands apartment complex where McCaleb and Jackson were chased down and shot. Two other teenagers were wounded.

All the victims are African-American. The suspected shooter is Latino.

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That’s caused worry that racial tension have spurred the attack, this in a city a with a historically low violent crime rate.

“It’s a good town," says Jessie Gonzales, "a good place to raise your kids.” Gonzales lives a couple of blocks from where the shooting happened. She says the incident doesn't represent the Redlands she knows.

Gonzales was pleased with the big, racially diverse crowed that turned out for the prayer walk. “You know, people, they don’t do this in other surrounding cities, they don’t do this for some person that’s lost a child, you know? It’s just an unfortunate thing that happened, I guess. Wrong place, wrong time.”

The prayer walk was punctuated with song, and with sorrow. More than a dozen friends and relatives of the teens led the march, escorted by local clergy including Reverend Felix Jones of All People Unity Baptist Church.

“We hope that when this day, this time is remembered," says Jones, "we will remember it and say this sparked something beautiful in our life, in our community in such a away that the hurt in this community will be melted away.”

Authorities are still searching for the suspect who shot and killed Andrew Jackson and Quinn McCale. Funerals for the teenagers will be held this weekend, and next week.