(July 2, 12:20 p.m.) -- At midday, LBPD issued a release with additional information on the homicide in the 1200 block of MLK Ave.
The homicide victim was Ruben Lopez, 25. He transported himself to a hospital but was ultimately pronounced deceased from his injuries. LBPD says that during their investigation "Homicide Detectives learned that Lopez was driving southbound on Martin Luther King Jr Avenue near 12th Street with a 19-year-old male in the passenger seat and an 18-year-old female in the back seat. Lopez got into a verbal altercation with a group of male suspect(s) in the block of 1200 Martin Luther King Jr Ave. Several shots were fired in the direction of Lopez and the other passengers. The juvenile victim was determined to be an unintended target as he was walking across Martin Luther King Jr Avenue when the shots were fired." LBPD's release adds that "In response to this incident, the Long Beach Police Department will utilize "Neighborhood Safe Streets" funding to deploy additional resources in key areas and increase high visibility patrols along the Anaheim Street corridor and throughout the South Patrol Division." (July 2, 2019, 6:25 a.m.) -- LB had two more shooting crime scenes on Monday (July 1), both in Central LB's 6th dist. within five hours of each other...and one was a double-victim shooting with a homicide. LBPD Watch Commander Lt. James Richardson provided initial information to LBREPORT.com (with further on the homicide possible in the coming hours; we'll update this story as we learn it):
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For context, LBREPORT.com provides a map below showing cumulated shootings and stabbings in the area Jan. 1, 2014-Dec. 31, 2017
The two latest crime scenes -- LB's 28th and 29th since May 7 -- follow two 6th district "no-person-hit" shootings (June 30 and June 24) within blocks of each other in the Orange/Lemon neighborhood south of Hill St. (LBREPORT.com coverage here.) The 29 shooting crime scenes within 55 days have disproportionately impacted mainly working class and historically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Central LB, WLB and NLB [circumstances LBREPORT.com has called the city's worst inequity, a "tale of two cities."] In FY13, a Council under former Mayor Foster erased LBPD's field anti-gang unit (LBREPORT.com detailed coverage here) and Councils under Mayor Garcia haven't restored the field anti-gang unit despite voter approval of the June 2016 Measure A "blank check" sales tax increase (bringing City Hall over 50+ million annually.) Later today (July 2), the Council is scheduled to discuss seeking voter approval to extend the Measure A "blank check" sales tax increase via a March 2020 ballot measure. Failing to restore funding for the field anti-gang unit also occurs in the context of the Mayor/Council's failure to restore 186 citywide deployable police officers that LB taxpayers previously had, leaving LB with the thin per capita police level chart and details here.) At the April 30, 2019 Public Safety Committee meeting, 4th district Councilman Daryl Supernaw (facing re-election in March 2020) sought to portray the status quo as basically providing the same anti-gang functions as previously. Below is a transcript of a salient portion of that April 30, 2019 agenda item. Councilman Supernaw: I'm going to bring up a topic that has appeared before and that is field gang units, and to our esteemed chair here she's probably say "asked and answered" in her parlance but I think it bears repeating just so members of the community don't bring this up again. (Audio of the full agenda item (LBPD testimony plus Councilmembers' responses) runs about 22 minutes. LBREPORT.com has made it easily accessible on-demand at this link.) [LBREPORT.com commented at the time: "Councilman Supernaw hasn't applied similar reasoning to justify the Mayor/Council's failure -- despite his persistent efforts -- to fund restoration of Fire Engine 17 at Station 17 (Argonne Ave.) in the eastern part of his district. He hasn't tried to justify the status quo by arguing that Engines 5 and 19 already perform a similar "function" to what Engine 17 performed. That's because the status quo is less on a serious public safety matter than what LB taxpayers previously had and deserve."]
The 29 shooting crime scenes (person-hit shootings plus "no-person-hit" shootings) are: For a continually updated chart showing LB shootings/homicides by Council district click here. To see details on LB's police and firefighter levels for taxpayers, click here.
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