Scores of residents of a poor neighborhood fired shots and hurled bottles and bricks at cars, venting anger over what they said was footdragging by police in responding to a teen-ager's hit-and-run death. Twelve people were arrested and six residents suffered minor injuries during the two-hour melee Tuesday night, authorities said. Several shots were fired from the crowd of at least 100 people that gathered at the intersection where 16-year-old Chris Crawford was struck and killed by a car Monday night, said. The shots apparently were fired into the air, and no one was hit, police said. Police said they fired no shots. State and county police and prison officers were sent to help city police control the crowd. Police used dogs to help clear the streets. The disturbance stemmed from the death of Crawford and the wounding of his cousin Michael Cain, 17. Crawford's death resulted from a confrontation among some 30 youths, police said. Cain said he and Crawford were assaulted as they stood near a video arcade. Cain said his cousin was forced into the street, then hit by a car. Cain said he was shot in the side as the vehicle passed. He was treated at a hospital and released. Crawford's death brought accusations from some residents who say police respond faster to calls from more affluent neighborhoods. Vince Wodard, a neighborhood resident, said police took more than an hour to reach the scene. ``We called them on 911, and they didn't come,'' he said. Mayor Robert Behler said the first squad car arrived within 30 seconds after police dispatchers received a call for help. About two hours before the incident, Anthony T. Gooden, 20, of Gary, was arrested on murder charges in Crawford's death, Drake said.
