Gang initiation rumor from Georgia impacts Columbia Basin

COLUMBIA BASIN — The Columbia Basin reacted to a text message from Georgia about a rumored gang initiation where three women would be shot at a Walmart.

“Everybody is just going crazy with these rumors,” said Othello police Chief Steve Dunnagan. “Hopefully everyone will calm down in a day or two.”

Some police agencies and schools were besieged with calls from people  believing they would be shot if they shopped at Walmart or their children were in danger. The timing of a shooting on Sunny Drive in Moses Lake and a murder in a park near Othello helped lend credence to the rumors.

It began with a cellphone text message originating in Georgia to a woman in Algood, Tenn., stating a gang initiation would involve three random women being shot at a Walmart store. The Algood police notified the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, who provided a standard teletype bulletin to law enforcement agencies.

“As far as we can tell, there’s nothing behind it,” said Lt. Bryan Whitefield, of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. “One of our gang unit guys worked all day on it and he tracked it back to Georgia. As far as we can tell there is actually no set plans … It was a better-safe-than-sorry deal.”

What they didn’t expect was how far the teletype would reach or the public reaction.

“We got calls from agencies in New Hampshire and Texas,” Whitefield said. “You’re the first from the west coast we’ve heard from.”

The bulletin was discovered by an operator at the Multi Agency Communications Center (MACC) at 8:31 p.m. on Monday, who sent it to all Grant County police agencies, according to a MACC record.

Othello is not part of MACC and received the same bulletin from different sources.

“We got a teletype from (an officer) in Pasco, (Wash.). Basically, the same type of thing,” Dunnagan said. “They got it from the Washington State Patrol out of Wenatchee.”

Even with law enforcement agencies sharing the information, the bulletin may not have been intended to reach Washington state.

“Putnam County in Tennessee put this out because they thought this is regional information that should be shared. I don’t think we are in the region,” said Grant County Undersheriff John Turley. “This was specific to the Tennessee area, not us. It’s a hoax in our area.”

From there it began seeping into the public and spread by text messages, e-mails and phone calls.

“There’s no reports of initiations at Walmart regarding gangs,” said Moses Lake Police Capt. Dave Ruffin. “We haven’t heard anything … We believe this to be unsubstantiated.”

 Gangs operating within Grant and Adams counties do conduct initiations, agreed Turley.

“Gangs in this area typically tag. They will steal, burglarize, vehicle prowl, maliciously destroy property, but to our knowledge, they haven’t raised to the level of killing an innocent individual. They won’t do that,” said Turley. “Typically it is gang-on-gang. They don’t target civilians. We would come down as Hell on wheels if they did.”

The shooting injury of Anthony R. Vasquez, 19, Moses Lake, on Sunny Drive in Moses Lake and the homicide of Ismael Garcia Jr., 19, Warden, in Taggares Park near Othello both occurred on Wednesday.

“We think the Sunny Drive (shooting) involves gang members but has no connections to what is happening in Adams County,” said Ruffin.

Adams County Sheriff Doug Barger said Garcia died after two groups of gang members met, argued and a handgun was drawn and used to shoot the victim twice.

The timing of the events led to the Othello School District to move into a modified lock down, keeping children at the elementary school inside Thursday.

“We don’t advise the school to do anything. The school district does whatever it wants,” said Dunnagan. “It’s part of the rumors that the police are ordering everything, but we’re not.”

Most school districts were made aware of the bulletin and made their own decisions on what to do.

“We were in contact with our local police and they had informed us that there wasn’t any activity in Ephrata, and they would inform us immediately if there was,” said Ephrata School District Jerry Simon.

The Moses Lake School District did not lock down the schools either. They sent e-mail to staff about of their decision.

“We’re on alert, but not a lock down,” said Monte Redall, Moses Lake School District assistant superintendent. “Both the rumors and what happened in Othello and in our town, we had to take caution … but some of these rumors have been going on for a while now.”

This isn’t the first rumor in Washington state to draw such attention.

“About five years ago, when a similar type of thing went out … They said gang members would drive around with high beams on and if you flash them, they would shoot you or your car,” Dunnagan said. “I think that the key point to emphasis is when people hear a rumor or get a text message, until they know for sure, they shouldn’t pass it on. It just creates more confusion.”