Hours after he fell to the ground clutching his stomach Monday night near Lake Calhoun, Derrick Martin became more than the latest Minneapolis homicide victim.
His killing was a chilling chapter in what police and other sources say has become a dangerous feud among gangs, one that has caused an uptick in the city's murder rate after several years of decline.
It also has everyone from beat cops to pastors to the mayor fearful of what lies ahead this summer if the feud escalates. Some of them say the volatile new gangs are less organized and harder to control than gangs of a decade ago.
"They don't want to listen to anybody," said Bishop Richard Howell of Shiloh Temple International Ministries, a North Side church that's worked with troubled youth. "They just want to retaliate."
Martin's killing was the city's 20th so far this year -- a tally now higher than all of last year -- and it was particularly brazen: He was walking on a heavily used bike path on the lake's west side when he was ambushed. Investigators say they're worried that fellow gang members will avenge his death.
Intraracial genocide?
Now that's "progressive"!
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