PHILADELPHIA, June 10 -In West Philadelphia the atmosphere on the streets is almost palpably tense. Gang wars are a way of life-and death. So far this year, 13 Philadelphia youngsters, sev eral in their early teens, have been killed in gang violence. Some were innocent bystand ers. There were 39 deaths last year, 43 the The Talk year before, a total of 248 in of West the last 10 years. Philadelphia as often as not, the antagonists were no more than children. It is as if they were playing cowboys, but somehow, in some malign transmogrifica tion, the guns have become
The Talk of West Philadelphia
The average age of both victim and killer is a little over 16.
A Sixth Sense
One hundred and seven gangs have been identified, scores more probably exist and the minimum estimate of 5,000 is quite likely short by about the same number. There are white gangs and some Puerto Ricans, but for the most part the gang phe nomenon in Philadelphia is black.
Benny Swans, who is 23 years old, a former gang member and now a commu nity worker on the Philadel phia streets, has developed something of a sixth sense about which street gangs will start shooting at each other and which ones won't.
“The Osage Avenue gang is cool,” says Mr. Swans, “and so is Cedar Avenue. But the Mongol Nation and the Woodland bunch-they could blow any time.”
There are confrontations almost daily between the two groups, each with its own po tential for violence and al most random death. One day last week was typical.