District attorney, police chief talk about rash of shootings

of a school in pueblo – the latest in a long lt of shootings this year. more than half have been gang- related. tonight, krdo newschannel 13’s michelle san miguel talks with the district attorney and police chief about their perspectives concerning this violent year. she’s live in pueblo. both the police chief and the d-a say the number of shootings this year is concerning… and the prosecution can be difficult. shooting scenes across pueblo this summer point to the ongoing gang problem in the steel city. 1:01 …this is something that we need to get a hold of. police have investigated 21 shootings this year — where someone shot or tried to shoot at someone. :42 thirteen of the 21 shootings have been gang related or gang involved. district attorney jeff chostner says the gang activity sheds light on a deeper issue in pueblo. 1:19… these shootings while they have a tang of gang element and a tang of drug activity, really are more about a generation of folks who find it easier to settle a dispute than any other method of conflict resolution. chostner says prosecuting cases involving gang members can be tough. 4:30 there’s somewhat of a code of silence among some of these folks that do not want to speak about what’s gone on. that affects our ability to prosecute the cases. 3:40 the charge that you can bring against the people is not the greater charge that you would like to. velez says the police department is working with t f-b-i to classify the two rival gangs responsible for many of the shootings as criminal enterprises. he says that would allow them to issue criminal and civil sanctions. 10:17 when you can leverage federal charges, criminal charge — that really changes the playing field. when you can start seizing their property, that changes the entire ballgame. chief velez says classifying those gangs as criminal enterprises will take a few years. changes the entire ballgame. chief velez says classifying those gangs as criminal enterprises will take a few years. changes the entire ballgame. chief velez says classifying those gangs as criminal enterprises will take a few years. in pueblo, msm. krdo. nc13. the el paso county