Murder of Lea Mek

Lea Mek
Surveillance camera footage from inside the pool hall moments before the murder
Born1974 or 1975
Died (aged 18)
Cause of deathGang shooting
NationalityCambodian

Lea Mek (1974/1975 – December 3, 1993) was a Cambodian refugee living in the United States who was a member of the Asian Boyz street gang. On December 3, 1993, Mek was murdered in a gang shooting by the Wah Ching gang, at a pool hall in El Monte, California. The murder was caught on camera by four surveillance cameras installed within the hall.[1] After his murder, the Asian Boyz declared war on the Wah Ching. As a result, it influenced a number of other gang murders and shootings in the LA area, and created a strong feud between both Asian gangs. Authorities claim the murder inspired a chain reaction of gang violence which led to ten other murders in the LA area.[2]

  1. ^ Youtube (19 November 2006). "WAH CHING ASIAN BOYZ SHOOTING LONGER VERSION". Youtube. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
  2. ^ Kevin D. Lam (September 2015). Youth Gangs, Racism, and Schooling: Vietnamese American Youth in a Postcolonial Context. Springer. ISBN 9781137475596. Retrieved 2017-01-11.