#100days100nights: LA shootings spark fear of gang competition

IT’S the depraved game being played out by rival street gangs in LA that has police and residents on high alert.

Those involved are using the hashtag #100days100nights to promote the twisted competition on Twitter and Instagram. The supposed aim of the game is to see which gang can kill 100 people first.

Numerous tweets have circulated displaying the battle lines, which show a section of south central Los Angeles with claims that no one — gang members or the general public — will be safe in the area during a 100-day window that began last week.

News of the murderous competition was first reported by the Daily Beast, with law enforcement sources saying they were taking the online posts seriously and had increased officer deployment to the area.

Users on social media have tagged images and videos with the hashtag expressing support for the movement, brandishing guns and posting inflammatory remarks.

“Better wake up,” one person wrote on Instagram. “It’s a war goin’ on.”

But more recently, the hashtag has been overrun by posts chastising those to believed to be participating in the bloodsport.

Instagram post promoting the deadly idea. Source: Twitter

However since the initial report, doubt has been cast over the seriousness of the threat and how deep the intentions of these gang members actually run. As the Los Angeles Times reported, social media has become an echo chamber where it’s difficult to know what is a genuine threat and what is rumour.

Los Angeles police have called for calm and made an effort to allay the fears of Los Angeles residents in the area.

“You’ve got everyday folks who have nothing to do with the gang lifestyle and culture scared,” LAPD Deputy Chief Bill Scott told gang intervention workers on Monday night in the US.

But despite their efforts, fears have been sustained by the recent spike in shootings which has coincided with the rise of the hashtag.

South Los Angeles experienced seven shooting incidents, injuring 11 and killing one, in this past weekend. A tactical alert was issued by the 77th division of the LAPD as all their resources dealt with the shootings and other divisions were called in to help.

According to the Daily Beast, one of the first victims of the #100days100nights game was a four-year-old boy who was fatally shot while sitting in a car with his mother and 11-year-old brother last Thursday. Official motive for the shooting is unclear.

As gun violence has subsided this week, police have tried to reinforce their message of calm.

“Things have calmed down,” Scott told the Times. “It kind of validates what we’ve been saying that we can’t validate this thing as being true.”

But he concedes in terms of social media, the horse has already bolted.

“The fear, it’s still out there. It takes a while to dial this stuff back,” he said.

So how did it this whole business start?

It allegedly began with the fatal shooting of young man named Kenneth “KP” Peevy, who was a beloved member of the gang Original Blocc Crips (100s).

He was fatally killed on July 17, sparking outcry and calls for retribution. It is believed that rumours of the 100 day competition grew out of the ensuing gun violence in retaliation for his murder

A user on reddit who claimed to be a resident of the area described the chaos following his death. “So now people are just killing other people because nobody knows who did it. They’re just gonna pretty much keep shooting in hope that they get the person who got him,” they wrote.

Other rumours being proliferated include that the 100 person quota is a real objective and came from a gang member in a Long Beach prison.

While one of the more crazy theories suggested by a number of others online is that the hashtag has been proliferated by the authorities to provide an excuse for police to use heavy handed tactics.

At this point it certainly seems unlikely warring gangs are actually intent on carrying out such a horrific agenda, but at the very least, the saga has illustrated the potential for social media to be used in dangerously incendiary ways.