‘Tragic’ Long Beach shooting leaves 3 dead, 9 injured — motive and ID of shooter not known

A shooting at a Halloween house party in Long Beach left three men dead and nine other people injured Tuesday night, with the shooter at large early Wednesday.

Update: Gunman fired into house party from alley before escaping

Police are doing everything they can to “find the person or persons responsible” for the shooting, Mayor Robert Garcia said during a press conference Wednesday morning.

“Obviously, this is a tragic event in our city,” said Jake Heflin, a spokesman for the Long Beach Fire Department.

The shooting happened about 10:45 p.m. in the 2700 block of East Seventh Street, near Ohio and Temple avenues. A motive for the shooting had not been determined in the early hours of the investigation, said Jennifer De Prez, a spokeswoman for the Long Beach Police Department.

Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna said the suspect or suspects shot from a rear alley into a residence where 25-30 people were gathered for a party, and then fled in a “dark-colored vehicle.”

Police did not have a description of the suspect, including whether the suspect was at the party, and didn’t know if the suspect fled on foot or in a vehicle.

There was only one shooter, investigators believe, but they were still talking to witnesses and trying to obtain any video such as surveillance footage, De Prez said.

The injured were seven women and two men, ranging from 20 to 49 years old, De Prez said.

“These victims sustained gunshot wounds to both the upper and lower torsos,” she said. “Some are in critical-stable condition and some are in stable condition.”

Investigators were searching for other possible victims who may have gotten to the hospital, but they were not aware of any as of about 4 a.m.

Here at 7th near Temple in #LongBeach where officials say 3 men are dead and 9 are injured after a shooting at a residence in the area at around 10:44 p.m. tonight pic.twitter.com/aueV3Cc6lx

— Emily Rasmussen (@rasmussenreport) October 30, 2019

The identities of those killed were not immediately made public.

Seventh Street was closed for the investigation from Orizaba Avenue to about Molino Avenue. Portions of 7th were expected to be closed for several more hours, police said at about 4 a.m., meaning the morning commute could be affected.

There was a Halloween party in the backyard of a home behind a nail salon when the shooting started. It was unclear how many people attended the party.

Lambert Alcendor, 21, has lived in the area for nearly four years.

He was walking to a liquor store at 7th and Temple when he saw a white car swerving on 7th Street in front of the nail salon and heard 20 to 30 shots fired, Alcendor said.

“I definitely heard a lot of shots,” he said. “And that’s when I started running.”

Alcendor said he ducked behind a car on Seventh near Gladys Avenue, and when he looked back, the car was gone. Although he didn’t see gunfire come from the car, he felt confident that that’s where the shots came from.

Police hadn’t yet confirmed this scenario.

At 10:44 pm, @lbfirefighters responded to shooting at a residence on the 2700 block of 7th Street. An MCI was declared with a total of 12 patients. 3 confirmed fatalities (adult males) 9 patients transported to local area hospitals. 5 immediate & 4 delayed. PIO onscene. pic.twitter.com/k8txxNqZfL

— Long Beach Fire (CA) (@LBFD) October 30, 2019

Oscar Cancio, 33, was unloading hockey equipment from his car in his parking lot on Seventh and Walnut when he heard nine to 11 gunshots back to back. He initially thought they were fireworks until he heard a helicopter circling overhead and sirens approaching.

He became worried about his neighbors, and headed in the direction of the sounds. He found police tape lining the yard of a residence next to the nail salon near 7th and Temple. He saw three people who were completely still, unmoving as they were taken away from the building on stretchers.

Others dressed in costumes limped out of the building.

“You don’t really hear about big shootings here, so for this to happen in our neighborhood feels awful,” said Cancio, director of admissions at Vistamar school in El Segundo. “You don’t feel good walking in the street after something like this.”

Seventh Street where the shooting occurred is predominantly residential, mixed with apartment buildings and single-family homes with some storefront businesses along the busy thoroughfare.

Pedestrians and bicyclists can be seen here often, day or night. Multiple residents, including Alcendor, said there are occasional gunshots heard in the area but for the most part it’s quiet during the night.

As police and fire officials were talking among themselves, a woman got out of a car and approached them, saying her cousin was one of the victims. She frantically asked for more information – including which hospitals the injured were taken to – as officials briefly spoke to her, then she ran back to her car and drove off.

Met a woman walking her dog on Ohio Avenue this morning. She’s lived on Molino Ave., a block away from the shooting, for 40 years. A flurry of texts asking if she was all right. Described the neighborhood as sleepy.

— Chris Haire (@CJHaire) October 30, 2019

Donna Coats, 63, who for 40 years has lived on Molino Avenue, one street over from the shooting, slept through the gunfire and the stream of sirens. A flurry of texts, asking if she was all right, finally woke her hours later.

Around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, Coats and her dog, Walter, went on their usual morning walk.

“This is crazy,” Coats said. “The most exciting thing that’s happened here is when a squirrel chewed through a wire and shut off the power.”

On Ohio Avenue, near Seventh, Coats stopped to take photos of the crime scene while with Walter, a rottweiler-German shepherd mix.

A police officer yelled at her to stay behind the yellow tape.

Coats, a former neighborhood watch commander, said she usually takes Walter past the nail salon — as she did last night, about an hour before the shooting. Her sister and daughter, who both live with her, go to that salon.

“This is a quiet, sleepy neighborhood,” she said. “Nothing like this has ever happened.”

This is a developing story.  Please check back for updates.