Ray Martinez, an LAPD detective, is seeing fewer fatal drive-by shootings. When Martinez goes behind the yellow tape, he's more commonly working on cases where a gunman has walked straight up to the victim — a walk-up shooting, reports the Los Angeles Times.

As gang culture has become less overt, the killings have become more targeted — and at the same time more chilling.

"They get to see the whole reaction," Martinez said. "It seems more daring."

Jorja Leap, a UCLA anthropologist who studies gang culture, agreed. "In a walk-up, you see who you're killing," Leap said. "You're going to listen to what they say as you shoot them."

Fatal drive-by shooting statistics were not publicly available from the LAPD, and there are no recent national statistics. But Leap sees a shift in how gangs operate.