Ward Lane Compton Crips

Full Name: Ward Lane Compton Crips
Also Known As: Ward Lane Crips, WLCC
Founded: Likely late 20th century
Founding Location: Compton, California
Years Active: At least 1980s–present
Territory: East Compton
Ethnicity: Predominantly African-American
Notable Members: Michael Mauricio, Victor Preciado

The Ward Lane Compton Crips (WLCC), also known as Ward Lane Crips (WLC), are a small African-American Crip street gang based on the east side of Compton, California. The hood sits near several established neighborhoods, including the South Side Compton Crips and Holly Hood Piru. Ward Lane has never been one of Compton’s biggest Crip gangs, but the hood is best known for its violent feud with Holly Hood Piru during the mid-2000s.

Foundation and Early History

Ward Lane was already established around the Ward Avenue section by the 1990s, though its exact founding year is unclear. Like a number of smaller East Compton hoods, Ward Lane grew out of a tight residential pocket rather than one of the larger neighborhoods that stretched across multiple avenues.

For much of its history, Ward Lane stayed in the shadow of larger East Compton gangs. That changed in the mid-2000s, when the hood went to war with Holly Hood Piru. That feud became the defining chapter in Ward Lane’s history and the period most closely tied to the gang in public records.

Territory And Cliques

Ward Lane Compton Crips claim a small section of East Compton running from Compton Boulevard to Alondra Boulevard, between Pannes Avenue and Butler Avenue. The hood is mostly residential, made up of houses, apartment buildings, and smaller side streets rather than large commercial strips or industrial property.

Its location put Ward Lane directly in the middle of East Compton Crip-Piru tensions. The hood sits near South Side Compton Crips, Atlantic Drive Compton Crips, and several Piru neighborhoods. Ward Lane members identify with the names Ward Lane Crips, Ward Lane Compton Crips, and WLCC. Their main cliques are the 400 Blocc, 500 Blocc, and 800 Blocc.

Documented Incidents

The 2006 Ward Lane–Holly Hood Piru War

The most violent chapter in Ward Lane’s history came in 2006, when the hood was locked in a war with Holly Hood Piru and other nearby Piru neighborhoods. The feud turned into a cycle of retaliatory shootings that spilled across East Compton and left multiple people dead in a matter of weeks.

The Killing At Lueders Park (November 6, 2006)

One of the first killings tied to that war came on November 6, 2006, when Jeffrey Shade, a 62-year-old man associated with the Lueders Park Pirus, was shot and killed at Lueders Park in Compton. Shade’s killing was part of the same retaliation cycle that drove Ward Lane’s 2006 war with Piru rivals.

His death showed how quickly the feud had escalated. The violence had moved past isolated confrontations and into open retaliation with rifles and drive-by attacks. It set the tone for the murders that followed later that month.

The Bus Stop Murders (November 19, 2006)

The violence escalated again on November 19, 2006, when Shudray Jenkins, 15, and Deaundre Hunt, 13, were sitting at a bus stop and gunmen opened fire from a vehicle. Both teenagers were killed. The murders became one of the central incidents in the Ward Lane–Holly Hood Piru war.

The killings were later tied to Michael Mauricio and Victor Preciado, two Ward Lane members convicted in connection with the 2006 murders. A rifle marked “WLC” became one of the clearest pieces of evidence linking Ward Lane to the shootings.

The Mauricio and Preciado Murder Case

The killings tied to the 2006 war eventually led to the prosecution of Michael Mauricio and Victor Preciado, two Ward Lane members later convicted in connection with the murders. Their case remains the best-known prosecution tied to Ward Lane and the hood’s 2006 war with Holly Hood Piru.

Allies and Rivals

Ward Lane has long been aligned with nearby East Compton Crip neighborhoods, especially the Atlantic Drive Compton Crips, South Side Compton Crips, and Duccy Hood Compton Crips. Ward Lane’s main enemy is Holly Hood Piru, the hood at the center of Ward Lane’s most violent war.

Besides Holly Hood, Ward Lane has long beefed with other East Compton Piru neighborhoods, including Lueders Park Piru, Mob Piru, Elm Street Piru, Lime Hood Piru, and Cross Atlantic Piru. They also feud with Mexican street gangs such as the Compton Varrio Tortilla Flats and Compton Varrio 70’s.