On this day, Aug. 9, in 1979, Raymond Washington, founder of the notorious Crips street gang, was gunned down at age 25.

In 1971, Washington, then 15, along with 18-year-old Stanley "Tookie" Williams banded neighborhood teens together to combat the South Los Angeles gangs. The group called themselves Cribs, which took on the name Crips.

The gang soon grew into a power in itself, and its violent feud with L.A.'s Bloods gang is legendary.

Washington, who was said to deplore the use of guns, became disillusioned by the killings. He began to lose his grip on the gang he started, and wanted to work toward a truce with his rivals.

He was killed on a street corner in South Central Los Angeles in a drive-by shooting. No one was ever arrested in Washington's slaying.

-- Scott McCabe