how many of you know people that have
been injured or have died because of
gang violence who are your age or like
you know poor kids this happened like a
few weeks ago what happened they ran out
to shot him seven times in the back shot
his homie in the leg and then shot him
in the head it is no day it's like
everyday life and I mean I said that
after a while just be used to it so you
were seven years old when I shot a man
you just gotta be like dang I said you
can't be like wow wow wow like it's too
many miles
so Wiz ago we had about six shootings in
one day I mean it was all starting at 10
o'clock in the morning I mean do you see
you hearing somebody checking - bro
that's the sound and never leave you I
just want to community one like when
people forget about it this is how it
became get down we're in South Central
LA in an area that's been called death
alley by the community because in the
past seven years there have been over a
hundred homicides in this neighborhood
and only people are being affected by
the violence in this area in a very
serious way most people associate
post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD with
American troops returning home from war
but when you look at communities like
this they're suffering from the same
thing experts say it's an epidemic and
that up to 40% of urban poor in America
are dealing with PTSD south central
south Vermont Avenue
it's the blood-soaked battlefield for at
least six gangs that claim the area as
their own it's called death alley
because it has one of the highest
homicide rates in Los Angeles and smack
in the middle of it is solid ad
enrichment action osya
metal detector a charter high school
serving the neighborhoods with high risk
it's this community their wind is very
rough a lot of shootings a lot of
stabbings a lot of drugs this very
disenfranchised Eric Jones is a
counseling him his job is to help
identify and connect with students who
are suffering from a variety of problems
including PTSD let me give you a quick
example say you're at a party and a
balloon pops picked it up they duck
because they're used to hearing gunshots
to me my personal experience about that
is close to my distress destroyed he's
also a former gang member so he's able
to relate to a lot of what they're going
through what we're curious about is the
kind of violence that you see and you
come from so my first question to
everyone you know you could you guys
could just raise your hands is how many
of you have known someone that's been
involved in a shooting not gonna go to
jail
y'all right
okay and how many people have seen
someone get shot close my mom's brother
was affiliated with gang members he
doesn't a gang member and he was walking
down the sheet my dad's brother and she
got shot in the back with shotgun I was
like with my brother it was like five or
six I don't know we used to go to the
park all the time and it was just these
gangbangers they came and like they just
started shooting a dude was sitting
right there and it was like we was all
Center right there like we was trying to
run and then the dude just shot the
other boy he was like probably like 15
he shot him in the back hey hey he was
just laid out right there and then we
just already like do you ever have
nightmares I think about that I can
still see it sometimes
that's pretty traumatic you know you
standing next to somebody and they just
get hit like that is anybody still
affected by that or are you guys just
kind of numb to that like you know what
it happens okay I'm glad it didn't
happen to me I don't know I could be
wrong but it seemed like you guys not
that traumatic to you like this it's not
really affecting or it's like it's
something I'm just keeping it I'm
keeping that out of my mind so I won't
mess me up it's like everyday life
that's the type of environment I still
think it's wrong like at the end of the
day we're gonna feel it could be healing
but after a while is good like another
person died like this regular it was
like you are death our students have
witnessed um boys and girls like three
and four and five years old being killed
right in front of them right on their
streets
father sandbox is a Catholic priest
psychotherapist and director of sales
gang intervention program
and he says many of his students show
the classic symptoms of PTSD numbness
sleeplessness traumatic flashbacks and a
constant feeling of anxiety the
adrenaline is flowing the cortisol
that's flowing the fight flight or
freeze kind of reactions from our
reptilian brain our operative all day
long really AM you see it in our
classrooms you see it out on the
basketball court you see it on the
street someone looks at these kids and
they're like oh they're angry or they're
violent or they're they're not
interested in learning do you feel that
some of the issues that these kids are
accused of in fact related to or PTSD I
believe that that those kinds of
characteristics are the symptoms of
something deeper of a deeper pain or
wound why is somebody Restless in a
classroom and can't concentrate there's
all sorts of dynamics that are happening
illogically with that student to that
youth there's all sorts of things
happening in the emotional state of
one's body the incapacity to find words
for what I'm feeling inside has people
reacting in violent ways
research by the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention found more
inner-city children suffer from PTSD
than soldiers returning from away and in
communities with high rates of sufferers
it can become a serious public health
issue people are on edge and one
accidental bump one wrong look the color
of the t-shirt you wear can spark a new
wave of violence we left saya guided by
Kevin twin orange he's also a former
gang member now working to prevent
violence right now he's making sure
students make it out of school and away
from Death Valley
safely
but firstly I'm getting cute and I'm
getting ride them too right here
you know no one be able to be joel's of
people just hanging out when they get
out of school so now we make a mean so
they want to stand on the corners and be
targets for somebody something a shooter
as a member of the Hoover's gang twin
managed to survive the battle days of
Ella's gang was in the 1980s and 90s but
after being shot eight times in 2006 he
dedicated his life to ending the cycle
of gang violence that continues even
today but to do that he's had to come to
terms with his own psychological wounds
seen everything seen best friends die in
front of me you know I don't see people
he killed people hurt neither I haven't
seen at all you know so there's nothing
I I didn't see I've seen it all and how
did that affect you like it made me none
it made me not to everything you know
what I mean it may be known to
everything to where I was like this was
the norm you don't know no better
you know you think it's normal and
that's I some of the kids get it forward
they think it's normal but it's not we
was the one making things the way they
were so we was writing a book along with
our lifestyles so we didn't know but now
we know where we can go back and tell
them what they doing is wrong and why is
wrong but we don't want to put it like
that could you describe some of the
symptoms of the violence that you've
seen what people would probably call
PTSD I mean you see you hear somebody
take their last breath
that's the sound and never leave you I
mean I've know out sound first time I
heard it is just like I heard it
yesterday there is a sound you never
forget
most afternoons twin drives around death
alley and surrounding neighborhoods
sniffing out and diffusing gang tensions
today the streets are empty a spate of
shootings the week before has kept
everyone inside as you can see not no
kids hanging out on the streets they get
nowhere they have to go cuz I guess he
last shootings that occurred he kind of
like stayed on their mind like man I
want to die today tell me a little bit
about the behavior or the attitude of
kids who've seen shootings or who've
seen violence people is a so used to the
shootings and rounds helicopters and and
just candles on every corner you know
they think that's a no because that what
they was raised and brought up in they
don't know nothing different than that
that's when you know you something from
post-traumatic stress disorder when
stuff like that don't don't bother you
like it's the norm is like no it's not
normal
have you ever lost a loved one to gun
violence yeah yeah understood you know
in for the lad that one that heard it
the most was mom my twin brother I lost
on it four or five years ago here with
my little cousin he was out of County my
vision young man came in there and shot
both over he shot three of them but my
my twin brother my cousin passed away
twin took us to the site of that killing
my bloody grid he was he got killed
right here and we were standing over
here my brother and was over here I
guess the guy came around what's up now
and uh did his shootin you know it got
all you know that's how quick dance can
happen so we were here for someone who
got killed all right and while you were
trying to you know have a vigil for that
person that's where you lost yeah my
little cousin Milo Caza took Joe he got
killed also so that was a double whammy
you know I'm glad I might have better
place right now you know and probably
before that happened I was in a better
place cuz you know it would happen here
the foot and I probably won't be
standing I know I won't be standing
talking to you why what he did I would
do the same thing you know I would've
kept that cycle going that's exactly
what worries the staff at manual arts
high school in another part of South
Central
just more recently we've had two
students this year who've died as a
result of murder and our kids struggle
with that on a daily basis the latest
was a 19 year old senior named Eric
Martinez he was shot dead in early March
and Cal SLO Gustavo segredo has been
working double duty to help students
deal with the crisis how many of your
students deal with trauma and symptoms
of PTSD well let me tell you we did
roughly 200 of the screeners and I'll
tell you maybe half of them qualified
it's just sometimes unfortunately not
all the parents or students are willing
to go through that process in a group
setting he says simply talking about
what happened is one of the best ways to
treat PTSD you're talking about students
who are now kids who don't want to reach
out how how do you get them to open up
how do you get them to talk to you I
think for me it's one of the things is
being honest with the students about the
impact of what they're going through
because a lot of our students again for
them when they see my office and they
see the st. Patrick social worker it
becomes I can't do this you know I'm not
crazy and I don't want people to think
I'm crazy part of my role has been here
on this campus is to try to help people
especially the adults understand it's
not about what's wrong with our kids but
rather what happened to them one of the
students segredo has been trying to
connect with is this 18 year old senior
Jose Vasquez he was best friends with
Eric Martinez the student killed and
watch this happened like a few weeks ago
what happened they ran out some shot on
seven times in the back shot his homie
in the leg and then shot him in the head
Jose just started meeting with the
school counselor but he says he doesn't
like talking about his pain he prefers
to numb it why do you smoke so often
well I smoke because oh boy like are we
going through some problems so smoking
helps it helps me forget about it for a
minute do you ever have trouble sleeping
or do ever feel like you have flashbacks
of violence that you've experienced or
seen before it happens once in a while
but it don't happen all the time but you
do experience flashbacks and what's how
does that make you feel like I can't
feel no type of way about it really I it
happened already so what can i bill
about this a memory I can't change it
it's hard to stop thinking about it
sometimes
it's always hard to something your buddy
you can't just see something and then
forget it in an instant what kind of
violence
have you seen I've seen people get down
I've gotten down with a couple of people
I've seen people run up to each other
shoot them over stupid stuff I've seen
people shanked me people over because
they was tagging on walls I've seen
people get thrown up a car punched out I
seen a lot of stuff have you ever seen
someone get killed I write a little I
don't want to talk about that you don't
want to talk about it why don't you want
to talk about it because the war like I
just don't want to talk about that Eric
your friend that you lost recently he
was killed what happens now do who do
you know who did it
do you know what's going to happen now
I'm not I don't not too sure because
like I said people is making rumors and
stuff they telling me a lot and I just
don't know who it is what will happen
when you find out who did it
I don't know I don't know to be honest
oh shoot but do you think that could be
more violence most likely there is gonna
be violence
it's shocking to me when you speak to
the kids in South Central LA that they
have the same stories as kids in war
zones they react the same way to loud
noises they'll dust because they think
it's you know a bullet or they'll say
nothing and they'll do nothing and
they'll be like oh well that was a
bullet I'm so used to it you know I
don't care and it's unbelievable that
it's happening in America because of the
crime that they see on a day to day
basis there are areas where kids
families communities are suffering from
the same effects as people who see war
you