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The 23rd Street Killers (abbreviated as "TSK") was a Los Angeles-based street gang that appeared in Season Three of Criminal Minds.

Background

A thorn in the side of the local authorities and gang task force for some time, TSK was led by a man named Glen Hill, a.k.a. "The Reaper"[1], and operated primarily out of his house in the suburbs. One late night in 2007, six members of the gang, Glen among them, ambushed comic book artist and writer Jonny McHale and his pregnant girlfriend Vickie Wright while they were returning home from the store. Taunting the couple, Glen refuses the money Jonny offers and forces Vickie to agree to Jonny's marriage proposal, which the group had overheard seconds earlier. After harassing Vickie, the gang grabbed her and made Jonny watch as they gang-raped her, with Glen telling him, "You're not gonna wanna miss this", and ended up killing her. Her death may have been an accident, however, as given that she was pregnant; it is possible that she may have died of internal bleeding as a result of being attacked. After finishing off Vickie, the group slashed Jonny across the stomach in an attempt to disembowel him, but couldn't do the job properly, presumably because they were either interrupted or found that they couldn't go through the act of gutting a man, and left him for dead. Jonny survived the attack but was rendered mentally unstable.

True Night

Six months after the attack, Jonny went after TSK, brutally hacking seven members apart with swords in the span of two weeks. A day after Jonny claimed his sixth and seventh victims, Glen holds a gathering at his house, which Jonny attacks, killing two guards outside before breaking in. Despite the group's attempt to defend itself, Jonny kills another four gang members before abducting Glen. Taken to a secluded location, Glen is then killed by Jonny, who gutted, partially dismembered, and decapitated him, telling Glen prior, "You're not gonna wanna miss this", which is the exact same thing Glen told him before making him watch what the gang did to Vickie. Whether or not the gang disbanded after Glen's death and Jonny's subsequent arrest is unknown, though it is possible that every single member of the gang is killed by Jonny, as it is not confirmed how many of them there are. It is also never revealed if any of Jonny's fourteen victims were any of the five gang members besides Glen who were involved in Vickie's death.

Known Members

  • Glen "The Reaper" Hill (leader; deceased). Portrayed by Craig Gellis.
  • Thirteen unnamed members (all deceased). All portrayed by uncredited actors.
  • Presumably numerous unnamed others

Modus Operandi

TSK used numbers to overwhelm victims and attacked using either small arms, blades, or their bare hands. When six of the gang members killed Vickie, they gang-raped her first (though it is unclear whether or not they meant to kill her, as she may have died of internal bleeding as she was pregnant when they attacked her), forcing Johnny to watch everything, and then slashed him across the stomach, nearly disemboweling him. The fact that they didn't succeed, however, suggests they were either interrupted or couldn't go through with the deed of gutting somebody. Given the name of the gang and leader Glen Hill's nickname "Reaper", it is likely that they killed other residents of Los Angeles, probably in gang-related killings on at least most occasions, and may have gang-raped other female citizens as well, though they may not have killed them. Any other crimes the gang may have been involved in, such as theft and drug dealing, are never mentioned.

Profile

As the investigation was focused on Jonny, no profile of the TSK was created by the BAU.

Real-Life Comparison

The 23rd Street Killers seems to be based on the 18th Street Gang. Both groups are similarly-named, violent street gangs that operate in Los Angeles, California, and are known to have committed several crimes such as murder.

Known Victims

  • Presumably killed many unnamed civilians prior to and after the attack on Jonny and Vickie
  • May 2007:
    • Vickie Wright (gang-raped and tortured, killing her and her unborn child)
    • Jonny McHale (attempted, but barely survived; was disemboweled)

Appearances

References

  1. Not to be confused with George Foyet, who has a similar nickname of "The Boston Reaper"
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