LBPD Public Information Officer Arantxa Chavarria tells LBREPORT.com that at about 1:10 a.m. Feb. 2, officers responded to a reported shooting in the 900 block of Park Circle, found a 20 year old man (adult) and a 16-year old girl shot/sounded. The victims said they were outside when a small group of male suspects approached them, tried to rob them, and ended up shooting at then (hitting both of them.)

LBFD paramedics transported the wounded girl to a hospital; the man took himself to a hospital before LBFD arrived. They suffered woundes described by LBPD as "non-life-threatening."

LBPD is investigating the shooting as gang related, PIO Chavarria says. .

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The maps below show cumulated fatal, non-fatal and no-person hit shootings cumulated from Jan. 1, 2018 to date.

Jan 1, 2018 to date: Red Xs=homicides; Blue Xs= shootings, person wounded; Brown Xs=shots fired at victim(s), not hit; Purple Xs=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; Blue * asterisk=victim hit, police unable to locate crime scene. Map is unofficial.

For context, the second map shows shootings cumulated from Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2017.

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It's the seventh shooting in LB's 1st Council district since Mary Zendejas was elected in early November 2019 with the support of the LB Police Officers Ass'n PAC, Mayor Robert Garcia and the immediate past 1st dist. Councilwoman (now state Senator) Lena Gonzalez. The three bypassed LB campaign contribution limits to candidate-run campaigns by giving $10,000 each to the LB Firefighters Ass'n PAC which then ran an "independent" campaign supporting Zendejas. (Ms. Zendejas' candidate-run campaign separately collected over $100,000 in contributions from entities prominently including development interests and organized labor' LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

In 2019, LB's 1st Council district had LB's highest number of shooting crime scenes, highest number of shooting victims, and highest number of homicides; the second highest was LB's adjacent 6th Council district. (On Jan. 29, a man was shot/wounded in the area of PCH/Lemon in the 6th district; LBREPORT,com coverage here.)

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Under Mayor Foster, then-1st dist. Councilman Robert Garcia and current 6th dist. Councilman (Vice Mayor) Dee Andrews voted for budgets that over a roughly five year period erased funding for 208 police officers (including LBPD's 22-member field anti-gang unit) without audible objection by the LB police officers' union. The Council has restored budgeted funding for 22 officers since LB taxpayers approved the June 2016 "temporary" Measure A General Fund ("blank check") sales tax. In December 2019, the LB police officers union gave $200,000 to a political committee operated by Mayor Garcia currently urging LB voters to support a March 2020 ballot measure that would impose the Measure A sales tax with no specified end date.

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