On Wednesday, May 1, 2013, at approximately 3:20 p.m., Long Beach Police responded to a shots fired call in the 1400 block of Florida Avenue, which resulted in the death of a male adult.

• When officers arrived, they located a male adult gunshot victim in the courtyard of an apartment complex

• The victim had been struck in the upper torso, was transported to a local hospital, and pronounced deceased shortly thereafter

• The victim has been identified as 20-year-old Devin Smith of Long Beach

Anyone with information regarding this incident should contact Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Roger Zottneck and Mark Bigel 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.

UPDATE: LBPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Aaron Eaton says the victim was a man in his 20s, who was shot outside and transported to a hospital where he succumbed to his wounds. Sgt. Eaton provided this update for us at the crime scene (approx 7:00 p.m., video below)

Neighborhood residents, returning from school and work to the sight of crime scene tape, said the neighborhood was quiet and they felt safe. They were stunned when we told them that a man had been murdered on their street.

At late afternoon-early evening, there was a large police presence in the area conducting an investigation. We saw mainly West Division police units...but we also saw one East Division Lieutenant's vehicle.

Today's (May 1) murder is Long Beach's second murder in the past three days, and Long Beach's 19th 16th murder of 2013 [updated figure per LBPD]. Long Beach had six fatal shootings (plus a fatal flammable liquid attack) in April.

• On April 28, a man was shot to death in the 1400 block of Junipero Ave.

• On April 23, 2013, a woman was murdered in the 1600 block of Cherry Ave. (4th dist.)

• On April 20, a man was fatally shot in the 1200 block of Phillips Street (8th district vicinity Orange/South)

• On April 17, a man was shot to death in the area of 10th St./Temple Ave. (border 2nd (Lowenthal) and 4th (O'Donnell) Council districts).

• On April 15, flammable liquid was tossed on a man sitting in his vehicle parked outside a convenience store at PCH/Clark Ave. [border of 3rd/4th Council districts, suspect is a homeless man]

• On April 11, a man was shot to death in the area of 7th St./Alamitos/MLK (1st district)

• On April 7, multiple victims were shot -- and one died -- in the 300 block of E. Home St. (8th district, vicinity Locust Ave. about two blocks north of Del Amo Blvd. b/w Atlantic & LB Blvd.) [The crime area is near Del Amo Blvd/LB Blvd., where on Mar 22, a 10 year old boy was struck by gunfire while sitting next to his parents inside their vehicle at a gas station.]

Map below includes murders and shootings cumulated over an extended period for context.

In L.A. County's second largest city, the Long Beach City Council currently provides a police level roughly equivalent per capita to cutting over 25% of L.A.P.D.'s officers. In September 2009, a Council majority began enacting (with some dissent in the past two budget cycles) reductions recommended by Mayor Bob Foster that erased over 150 officers previously budgeted for citywide deployment. The result has left Long Beach with a sworn police level for citywide deployment not seen since the mid-1990s.

In September 2012, Mayor Foster proposed a FY13 budget with reductions that would have basically eliminated LBPD anti-gang unit and a number of detectives. A Council majority adopted a substitute measure -- on a floor motion made by Councilman O'Donnell -- which budgeted an additional $1 million (beyond an additional sum proposed by Budgert Oversight Committee) to be allocated at the Chief's discretion. The sum has since been used to fund some -- although not all -- of the anti-gang officers and detectives that Long Beach had a year ago.

In its September 2012 budget vote, the Council budgeted its first replenishment Police Academy class in several years, but its graduating (rookie) officers aren't slated to hit the streets until later this year...by which time additional retirements/attrition are expected to deplete LBPD's ranks from their present level.