SOUTH BEND — Large gatherings of teenagers have become a common problem along one of South Bend's busiest roads. The recent shooting death of a local teen has police rolling out a new plan to crack down on crowds and cruising.

The teenager accused of pulling the trigger in a weekend shooting was arraigned before a judge Wednesday. Rashad Taylor, 17, faces one count of murder in connection with the death of Eddie Ward Jr., 16, who died Sunday from a gunshot wound to the head.

Ward was a student at Clay High School.

Witnesses told police that Taylor shot Ward after the two got into an argument in a parking lot outside the Phillips 66 gas station at Adams Street and Lincoln Way West.

On Wednesday night, Ward's family and friends gathered outside the gas station to remember the 16-year-old's life.

Sean Tetter attended school at Clay with Ward. He says friends called him "J.R."

"He loved to play football and was in the ROTC. He wanted to go into the Air Force, and he was a UFC fighter, too. J.R. was the only person who I really trusted," Tetter said.

"He was just out celebrating his birthday, and that's why he was out that night. He just got caught up in a bad situation," Tetter continued.

Police say the stretch of Lincoln Way West where Ward was shot has become a hot bed for violence. At least a dozen people have been shot there over the last two years, including four in the last three weeks alone.

People living nearby say something has to change.

Many of the shootings happened with large crowds gathered nearby. Police say many within the crowds are teenagers who "cruise" the street and nearby gas station and fast food restaurant parking lots.

"This time of year, that's always an issue, but unfortunately, we're seeing a spike in this right now. And some of the circumstances we're seeing are the same. People are not just going to these places, conducting business and leaving. They're standing around, hanging around, and then getting into disagreements with tragic results," said South Bend Police Captain Phil Trent.

Bob Steinmetz and his wife Joan have seen it all with their own eyes.

39 years ago, they moved into what was a quiet, family neighborhood about half a block away from the Phillips 66 station where Ward was shot.

Lately, they say things just aren't the same.

"There's constant traffic and noise. There's crowds out at all hours of the night. It's been a real nuisance to the neighborhood," said Bob.

It's a nuisance that's suddenly hit very close to home.

A stray bullet recently landed in the side of Joan's car while it was parked in her driveway. And she has no doubt where it came from.

"It was a .45 [caliber] and it went straight through the door. The biggest change we've seen has been the all-night gas station. I don't know for sure, but I would bet it came from there," she said.

It's the same spot where the Steinmetz's heard sirens responding to early Sunday morning. Three days later, a makeshift memorial for Ward sits outside the station. Friends gathered around it Wednesday said he knew the dangers of hanging out here late at night all too well.

"He used to always tell me not to be on these streets and to watch out what I'm doing. Because these dudes, they shoot you over nothing," Tetter said.

Police say the Phillips 66 station isn't the only problem area either.

Crowds of teens have been gathering lately at various spots along Indiana Avenue, between Michigan Street and Miami Street, Trent said. Various parking lots near Lincolnway and Bendix Drive have also been hot spots, as has a Marathon gas station at Lincolnway and Lafayette Avenue.

On Friday, a 19-year-old woman was shot outside that Marathon station, suffering a minor graze wound to the leg.

According to police reports, a crowd had gathered in the lot when a fight broke out between two women about 1:45 a.m. Police arrived at the scene to find the woman injured and several silver shell casings on the ground.

Police said it does not appear the shootings were related.

However, both weekend shootings shared two similarities: the victims' ages and crowds of teenagers gathered outside when they occurred.

The bruises of those weekend crowds are beginning to take their toll. Broken bottles and trash line the streets along Lincoln Way, and many fed up neighbors have already moved out, leaving vacant, often boarded up houses behind.

Now, police have a new plan to move in by using federal grant funding to step up patrols and crack down on curfew and loitering violations.

But they're asking for help.

"There are some parental issues that have to come into play here, too," Trent said. "We can do our part, but we can't do it alone."

Tetter's father Issac Jones couldn't agree more.

"It's the parents," he said. "You need to be on your kids like I be on my son. 10 o'clock, 9 o'clock, when it gets dark, be home. If you know they're hanging out here all the time, don't let them come back here. Because that's where the problems are. That's asking for trouble."

Another potential solution is already taking shape in Indianapolis.

City leaders there recently passed a "no cruising" ordinance to crack down on huge crowds gathering on the city's north side. In some cases, similarly violent fights would break out over the weekends, and trash and debris would litter the otherwise quiet streets.

Police planned a successful "crackdown" effort there over the weekend too, reported WRTV-TV.

Trent says a similar ordinance here likely wouldn't solve the problem.

"I think everybody's idea of cruising is a big multi-lane commercial area where kids are going up and down the street using it like a big merry-go-round and going around in circles. A lot of places in South Bend where this is taking place, you'll have kids meet at one location and get into their cars and go to location two and on down the line. It's less cruising and more like group gathering," he said.

It's one reason why Trent says SBPD is moving forward with the curfew crackdown first.

"A lot of these kids are in cars, so it can be really hard to pin people down like that. It's a person's right to assemble. And, if they're peaceful, we have to keep our distance. But we can target those teens who are out late on the street. And hopefully, that will begin to make a difference," he said.

It may not solve all the problems, but for the Steinmetz's it's start to help stop tragedy from hitting all over again.

"That would be a good step," said Bob. "We just do what we have to do."

South Bend Tribune Staff Writer Dave Stephens contributed to this report.