(April 10, 2015) -- A man (adult) was shot yesterday afternoon (April 9) in the 6000 block of Linden Ave., one block west of busy Atlantic Ave. and a couple of blocks NW of the new North Long Beach Uptown Renaissance Library project.

LBPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Megan Zabel tells LBREPORT.com that at about 5:00 p.m., officers responded to the 6000 block of Linden Avenue regarding a shooting, located a man on the street with a gunshot wound, who was transported to a local hospital and reported in stable condition.

PIO Zabel says gang detectives responded to the scene to assist with the investigation and what took place is being investigated as possibly gang related.

At the March 24, 2015 Council meeting, NLB Council reps Al Austin (8th dist. south of Atlantic) and Rex Richardson (9th dist. north of Atlantic) supported an appeal by area residents and the Council voted 8-0 to overturn an action of the Planning Commission, overcome support from city staff and deny a CUP for beer/wine sales for offsite consumption at Atlantic/South (SE corner) gas station/convenience store. Residents and the two NLB Councilmembers both noted that the Atlantic Ave./ South St. area is a key location on the 8th/9th district border for the area's planned revitalization.

LBREPORT.com notes that a citywide "Ciclovia" (closing streets for bicycle riders) is also planned along Atlantic Ave. in early June.

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LBREPORT.com's unofficial map below cumulates shootings over time (Jan. 1, 2014 to date) for context. The map doesn't show all of LB's shootngs, most of which are in part of Central LB/NE of downtown, with some in a relatively small area of WLB.

Red Xs=2014 and 2015 murders to date; Blue Xs=2014 and 2015 shootings, person wounded; Brown Xs=shots fired at victim(s), not hit; Purple Xs=2014 shots at occupied residence/vehicle; Green Xs=shots at unoccupied vehicle/residence; Grey Xs=shots fired (no hit, no target identified); Orange X's=non-fatal stabbings. Map is unofficial for shootings in area shown.

• On Feb. 20, 2014, also in broad daylight, a man was shot and killed in the area of 59th St.,/Linden Ave. LBPD said at the time indicated that two suspects were seen fleeing the scene...and arrests were made. On March 7, 2014, a 21 year old and 25 year old (male adults, both residents of Los Angeles) were arrested in the 400 block of Century Blvd (Los Angeles) on suspicion of murder...and the L.A. County District Attorney's office filed murder charges against both arrestees. LBPD says court proceedings are currently pending.

• On September 19, 2014, afternoon gunfire struck an occupied residence in the 6100 block of Linden Ave.. No person was hit, no injuries were reported...and the suspect(s) was last reported at large.

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As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, in early September 2014, the LB City Council voted without dissent to adopt a FY15 budget that no longer funds LBPD's now-former field anti-gang unit. Until October 2012, the unit included twenty officers plus two Sergeants, deployed in gang impacted areas where officers could interact with residents and gather intelligence.

In August 2012, then-Mayor Bob Foster recommended a FY13 budget that proposed to eliminate the unit, and then-Vice Mayor Robert Garcia, chosen by Foster to chair the Council's Public Safety Committee, held no hearings on the public safety aspects of the proposed budget. However the Council balked and voted to fund half of the field anti-gang unit using "one time" funds for a year.

A year later in September 2013, the Council failed to budget additional sums for the field anti-gang unit, which LBPD scrambled to maintain at a further reduced level by drawing officers from patrol and backfilling with overtime. In July 2014, exiting Mayor Foster and entering Mayor Garcia both recommended a FY15 budget without funding for the field anti-gang unit. The Council's Public Safety Committee, now headed by Councilwoman Suzie Price (chosen by Mayor Garcia) held no hearings on public safety aspects of Garcia's recommended FY15 budget. (Councilwoman Price said such an action would be "unprecedented.")

In September 2014, the Council voted without dissent to adopt a FY15 budget that provided no funding for LBPD's field anti-gang unit.

LBPD continues to maintain a conventional gang unit (often working indoors on investigations and the like) but LB no longer has the field anti-gang unit that City previously had.

Although city officials frequently say that LB crime is at 40+ year lows (using a citywide statistic), in applying for the state taxpayer funds (a grant called "My Sister's Keeper") under the CA Gang Reduction, Intervention [application obtained by LBREPORT.com using the CA Public Records Act] the City acknowledged that in 2014, gang membership in Long Beach was 12.82/1,000 people, more than twice the state average of 6.18/1,000 people.

"Although violent crime in Long Beach dropped to the lowest level over the past forty years, youth and gang violence has spiked in certain neighborhoods," the city said in its grant application, stating that "gang related murders in 2012 were up 51% and gang shootings were up 18.9% since 2011 as reported by LBPD." It added (as previously acknowledged in statements by LBPD) that "gang violence contributes to at least half of the homicides in Long Beach."