NLB Murder Victim Was 18 Yrs Old, PD Investigating As Possibly Gang Related (5400 block Elm), Nearby Homicide Mars "Beach Streets Ciclovia" Taking Place On Atlantic Ave., About Two Blocks East

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UPDATE: NLB Murder Victim Was 18 Yrs Old, PD Investigating As Possibly Gang Related (5400 block Elm), Homicide Mars "Beach Streets Ciclovia" Taking Place On Atlantic Ave., About Two Blocks East

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(June 6, 2015, 5:55 p.m.) -- Following up on a story we reported before dawn today, the victim in last night's (June 5) homicide (minutes before midnight) in the 5400 block of Elm Ave. was 18 years old. LBPD says a motive for the shooting is currently unknown, detectives are investigating the fatal shooting as possibly gang related.

[LBPD release text] On Friday, June 5, 2015, at approximately, 11:55 p.m., Long Beach Police responded to a shooting in the 5400 block of Elm Avenue, which resulted in the death of a male adult.
When officers arrived, they discovered the victim, identified as 18-year-old Ruben Martinez Barrera of Long Beach, who had been struck by gunfire in the upper body. Long Beach Fire Department paramedics responded and pronounced the victim deceased at the scene.
A motive for the shooting is unknown, however, detectives are investigating the incident as possibly gang-related. No suspect information is available at this time.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Teryl Hubert and Michael Hubbard 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.

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 Central/WLB.

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[Earlier coverage] -- (June 6, 2015, 5:33 a.m.) -- A man (adult) was found fatally shot overnight (at about midnight) in the 5400 block of Elm Ave., two blocks west of Atlantic Ave., just hours before the start of a "Beach Streets Ciclovia" (a bicycle-promoting event closing Atlantic Ave. to cars from Wardlow Rd. to Harding St.)

Initial information is sketchy. LBPD overnight Watch Commander Lt. David Faris tells LBREPORT.com that a call came in shortly before midnight; an individual reported seeing a shooting victim in the street; no witnesses to the shooting itself; LBFD responded and pronounced the victim (an adult male) deceased at the scene.

The "Ciclovia," planned to spotlight neighborhoods and encourage a healthy lifestyle, comes just days after the City Council adopted a "Meatless Monday" resolution likewise intended to show the City Council's commitment to health. It was agendized by Councilman Al Austin (in whose 8th Council district the overnight murder occurred), joined by Councilmembers Gonzalez and Price.

Within a few hours of the NLB homicide, Councilwoman Gonzalez had a shooting in her 1st Council district, a few blocks north of downtown Long Beach. The shooting occurred in the [officers still narrowing crime scene in predawn hours] 1000-1100 block of Cedar Ave. in LB's historic "Willmore City" neighborhood at about 4:00 a.m. today (June 6). LBPD says the victim in the shooting has been "uncooperative."

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On May 20, gunfire flew at midafternoon, approx. 3:40 p.m. in NLB near Houghton Park, site of an entertainment festival scheduled as part of today's "Ciclovia." A woman (adult) was hit; a fight escalated to a shooting.

As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, on May 17 a man (adult) was shot in the 5500 block of Atlantic Ave. (along the Ciclovia route) at about 2 a.m. LBPD responded to a shots call; found a business had a shattered front window; a party had been taking place at the location...and a man (adult) suffered a gunshot wound described as non-life-threatening.

There's no immediate word at dawn on whether LBPD considers the overnight NLB murder and Willmore City area shooting gang related.

In Sept. 2014, a Council majority approved without dissent, a FY15 (current) budget (recommended by both current Mayor Garcia and exiting Mayor Foster) that no longer funds LBPD's now-former field anti-gang unit. The field anti-gang unit previously deployed twenty officers plus two sergeants in gang impacted areas where they could interact with residents and gather intelligence. LBPD continues to maintain a conventional gang unit (often working indoors on investigations and the like) but L.A. County's second largest city no longer has the field anti-gang unit that LB taxpayers had until September 2012 (chronology below.)

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 Foster 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, again with no hearings by Garcia's Public Safety Committee on the proposed budget, 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 as chair by Garcia and endorsed for office by Foster) held no hearings on public safety aspects of the Garcia-Foster proposed FY15 budget (saying 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.