Feds announced sweeping indictment of Latin Dragon gang members

HAMMOND, Ind. -- Several alleged members of a Chicago-based street gang have been indicted on charges that they killed or injured more than 40 people in shootings, stabbings and assaults in Chicago and Indiana dating back to 2006.

Eight of the 17 members of the Chicago-based Latin Dragon Nation street gang who were indicted on murder charges in the slayings of 11 people and the others were indicted on gang-related offenses. The gang operates in Chicago, Hammond, Gary, Whiting and Calumet City.

In a Friday news conference at the U.S. Attorney's office in Hammond, prosecutors said that among the homicide victims were two 10-year-olds on Chicago's South Side - including one girl who was fatally shot in 2008 while she tied the shoes of her blind 5-year-old sister.

The investigation was spurred by the killing of 10-year old Gustavo Garcia, who was shot to death in July 2017 while in a car on Chicago's East Side neighborhood, U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch said.

"Gang members should not get comfortable in the northern district of Indiana," Kirsch said. "We will never tolerate gang violence."

The Cook County Sheriff's Office released a statement on the indictments: "These critical indictments are an example not just of the ravages of gangs and violence on our communities, but also of how law enforcement agencies are tirelessly working together toward justice for the victims. The Sheriff's Office is proud to have played a key role in the investigations that led to indictments for these crimes, including the heinous slaying of 10-year-old Gustavo Garcia."

WLS-TV contributed to this report.