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EAST CHICAGO | Seven-year-old Angel Silvas may have died from gang-related gunfire earlier this month, but officials say the boy was encircled by street gang influences long before his death.

Police and neighbors say the boy's father, former city council candidate Michael Silvas Jr., was widely known to belong to a gang called the Spanish Vice Lords, as was his grandfather, Michael Silvas Sr.

East Chicago native Leo Arreguin Jr., who directs the Lake County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force, said Angel Silvas was at risk for falling into the same lifestyle because of his environment -- before the boy became an innocent victim.

"I think that's natural," Arreguin said. "It's extremely difficult for them not to join these gangs if they're living in these neighborhoods."

Many conventional gang-resistance efforts rely on strong family support, local experts say. But what about families in which young children look up to brothers or fathers who are gang members, especially in neighborhoods historically dominated by gangs?

Some law-enforcement officials say generational gang membership is becoming a larger but less widely addressed issue. One former prosecutor in East Chicago said it was an obvious factor in many cases.