Now, It's Murder; Victim Dies After He's Shot In 1700 block Cerritos Ave., First of Two Shootings Within Three Hours in 6th Council District

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UPDATE: Now, It's Murder; Victim Dies After He's In 1700 block Cerritos Ave., First of Two Shootings Within Three Hours in 6th Council District

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(July 11, 2015, 12:55 p.m) -- Now, it's murder. The victim of the first of two shootings within three hours (July 9) in LB's 6th Council district has succumbed to his wounds.

In a release at midday today (July 11), LBPD states:

On Thursday, July 9th, 2015, at approximately 10:36 p.m., Long Beach Police responded to the 1700 block of Cerritos Avenue in regards to a shooting.
When officers arrived, they discovered a male adult victim on the street who had been struck by gunfire. Long Beach Fire Department paramedics responded and transported the victim to a local hospital where he remained in critical condition.
Last night, July 11, 2015, at approximately 7:12 p.m., the victim succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased. The victim has been identified as 42-year-old Tomas Palmas of Long Beach. The motive for this shooting is still unclear and no suspect is in custody at this time. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Hugo Cortes and Oscar Valenzuela at (562) 570-7244. Anonymous tips may be submitted by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), texting TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or visiting www.lacrimestoppers.org.

Lerss than three hours after this shooting, another shooting occurred (early a.m. July 10) in the 1300 block of Lewis Ave., also in the 6th Council district.

And this morning, another shooting occurred (2 a.m. hour July 11) in the 6th Council district (2400 block Linden Ave.) [LBREPORT.com Breaking News coverage on our front page, www.LBREPORT.com.]

[Scroll down for further.]

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. A separate map (not shown here) indicates add'l shootings in NLB.

LB's 6th Council district has been represented since early 2007 by Councilman Dee Andrews, who recently announced that he will wage a write-in campaign to seek another four year term in office in an April 2016 election.

(July 10, 2015) -- As flashed on LBREPORT.com's front page this morning, a shooting occurred last night (July 9) in the 1700 block of Cerritos Ave. (6th Council district.)

Information is sketchy as LBPD investigates this shooting -- and a second shooting less than three hours later in the 1300 block of Lewis Ave. (also in the 6th Council district.)

LBPD says that at about 10:36 p.m., officers responded to the 1700 block of Cerritos Ave. and found a man (adult) who'd been shot. He was transported to a hospital; LBPD is investigating this shooting as possibly gang related. [Scroll down for further.]

In September 2014, Councilman Andrews voted with a unanimous Council (9-0) to approve a City Hall budget (FY15) that no longer funds LBPD's field anti-gang unit. LBPD has an anti-gang unit (which does investigative work, etc.) but the Council no longer funds its field anti-gang unit, which had been comprised of 22 sworn officers (20 officers + 2 sergeants.)