Afternoon Gang Shooting in Los Angeles Park Leaves Two Dead, Five Wounded
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Two people were killed and five were injured in a gang shooting at a public park in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon.
The shooting happened around 3:50 p.m. at Peck Park in the San Pedro neighborhood, about 20 miles south of Los Angeles, where about 500 people were visiting, the LA Police Department said. A brawl of some sort sparked the exchange of gun fire, although authorities have not identified the parties involved or what exactly triggered the upset, KKTV reported. No arrests have been made, LAPD Captain Kelly Muniz said during a press conference.
“All of a sudden we heard three shots — pow, pow, pow,” eye-witness Dwayne Ellis told KABC. “Then we heard about 50 or 100 more — pow, pow, boom, boom. All kinds of shots. People were running.”
Paramedics from the LA Fire Department arrived shortly after the shooting and tended to the injured. A total of seven victims, whose identities have not been made public, ranging in age from 23-to-54 were transported to the hospital, spokesman Erik Scott said. Two of the individuals died.
Councilman Joe Buscaino, who represents the area, said the shooting occurred during an illegal car show held by gang members.
“Know that this park and many parks across the city have been having issues with these car shows,” Buscaino told Southern California News Group.
Like many other progressive cities, Los Angeles has experienced an alarming surge in violent crime, specifically homicide, robbery, and aggravated assaults, over the last couple of years. Total violent crime is up 13.6 percent in 2022 from 2020 in the city, according to statistics from LAPD. In addition to other issues, such as homelessness, rampant drug abuse, and high cost of living, the crime spike in California has driven many residents out and into states like Florida and Texas.
“Recreation staff on scene can identify potential issues and coordinate with park rangers,” Buscaino said. “We’ve lost a sense of common sense in the City of Los Angeles.” He has advocated for an armed presence of Los Angeles park rangers to deter and curb crime in the neighborhood.
Skipp Townsend, a gang interventionist, was present at the scene after the shooting unfolded.
“It’s sad and heartbreaking that people still won’t talk,” Townsend told the Los Angeles Times. “You know, instead they pick up guns. So that’s heartbreaking, that we can have peaceful events in this area for, you know, two, three years straight with no incidents, and then one incident like this happens.”
Progressive prosecutors in California have come under fire for their relaxed law enforcement policies, such as bail reform, which critics claim incentivize lawlessness and return offenders to the streets to commit additional crimes. In June, voters in progressive San Francisco overwhelmingly recalled radical left-wing district attorney Chesa Boudin two years after he was elected on a “restorative justice” and anti-mass incarceration platform.
