Under the gun in South L.A.: businesses suffer along with residents when violence leads to fear.

Fred Hunter heard the gunfire while giving haircuts at Pete's Barber Shop, at the corner of 79th Street and Western Avenue.

That night, six people were shot -- two fatally -- a few blocks away in separate incidents. Those and a slew of other November shootings have given Los Angeles the dubious distinction of having the nation's highest murder rate.

In the days that followed, Hunter saw only about half the usual number of customers come in and his income fall from around $200 a day to $100. "It hurts," Hunter said.

But after a few days, he was quick to add, "they start coming back."

Violence is no stranger to this part of town, where merchants long ago learned to accept the necessities of surveillance cameras, shortened hours and, at times, yellow crime tape. But the recent violence stands out even among the more hardened residents and businesspeople.

"Even in war, people go on with their lives. But that doesn't mean people aren't fearful and very, very anguished about what's going on," said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the advocacy group National Alliance for Positive Action.

Business owners have come to treat the violence - much of it gang-related -- a little like bad storms. Customers briefly withdraw each time it happens, though not for long.

Surquintha Mangum, manager of Chesterfield Square's VIP Music, has noticed that customers' shopping habits are changing, though they are still coming in. On the nights of the shootings, business practically comes to a stop, she said, not only because people don't want to go out, but because police have blocked off nearby streets.

"A lot of customers are talking about it," she said.

Security guards are a common sight in the area's stores. They watch over Home Depot, Food4Less and a flea market down the street. Even Kragen Auto Parts employs one every day from 8 a.m until noon and from 3 p.m. until the store closes at 7:30 p.m.

Guards mostly act as a deterrent, but they can also detain suspects until law enforcement arrives.

Home Depot floor manager Brian Jones notes that while the violence ebbs and flows, it tends not to affect sales because it's been happening so long. "There's always shootings' he said. "It's a part of life."

So much so that customers have simply become pragmatic about the gruesomeness: They shop earlier in the day.

Economic vitality

What the last few weeks confirmed for developers and retailers alike is the economic resilience of South Los Angeles -- gang warfare or no.

Jerry Katell, president of L.A.-based Katell Properties, said he was skeptical at first about investing in the area, but not now. Katell developed the $60 million Chesterfield Square Shopping Center at the corner of Slauson and Western Avenues, which has come to represent the centerpiece of South L.A.'s redevelopment efforts.

"For the people living there, life goes on:" said Katell. "People need to live and work?'

At the turn of the 20th century, South Los Angeles, which encompasses 40 square miles south of downtown, was dominated by sugar beet fields and fruit orchards. During the 1920s, its population soared and its economy boomed.

The area experienced another boom after World War II when the aviation industry employed enough people to lift Los Angeles out of the Depression and help new suburbs spring up in South Central.

Along with the economic upswing, came racial tension. South Central has been hit by three major race riots over the years, beginning with the Watts riots of 1965. There were riots in 1979 and again in 1992, after four white policemen were acquitted of charges stemming from the beating of Rodney King.

Since then, $438.2 million in development has been poured into the community, including facade renovations and new stores, churches and apartments. Another $894.8 million in private and public projects are planned in the district over the next five years.

Where once stood burned hulks of buildings destroyed in the 1992 riots are now bright facades of chain retailers, community centers, churches and apartment buildings. Demographics also have changed to reflect an increased Latino influence; the area is 49.2 percent African-American and 42.2 percent Hispanic, according to the 2000 census.

'Nothing new'

Mark Ridley-Thomas, outgoing 8th District city councilman whose district covers the area, estimated that $150 million has been invested along Western Avenue alone in the last 10 years, with 75 percent coming from private investors and 25 percent coming from public funds.

Ridley-Thomas stressed that his district is a viable market for a range of business investments. "The capacity of the marketplace can drive the businesses, and it does:' he said.

Still, the difficult years have prompted some to move on.

Bishop Jerry Howard recalled a carload of robbers wielding guns and stealing his briefcase 20 years ago while he waited for a bus near his home at Slauson and Western avenues. After that, he left the area.

"This is nothing new:' said Howard, of the Faith Deliverance Center. in Inglewood. "It's almost like something hovering over the area. People there are conditioned to it. Some have moved out. Some drive 15 miles and take their dollars somewhere else. Because you never know when astray bullet is going to hit you."

Robert Taylor, program administrator for the National Alliance for Positive Action, lived just off Western Avenue, about a mile and a half from Slauson, for five years until he got fed up with the graffiti and the constant sense of danger.

"I came home one day and there was a hole in my bedroom. There was a hole in my window and in my dresser:' he said.

It's not unusual for bullets to land in random places around South L.A., he said, which is why he avoided walking in his own neighborhood and now avoids even driving through the area.

But at the Kragen Auto Parts at 43rd Street and Western Avenue, rebuilt in 1997 on the spot of a business torched during the 1992 riots, business has gradually increased over the last five years. The store's manager, who didn't want his name used, said his customers have learned to live with violence.

"It does affect us, especially when (the police) block streets," he said. "I would say the next day, people go back to normal life."