Three dead and four injured in bowling alley shooting
Witnesses said gunfire erupted during a fight between two large groups
Three men were fatally shot late Friday and four injured when a brawl at a popular Los Angeles-area bowling alley and karaoke bar erupted into gunfire that had terrified patrons, some children, running for their lives.
Police in the coastal city of Torrance responded shortly after midnight to calls of shots fired at the Gable House Bowl. They found seven people with gunshot wounds. Three men were pronounced dead at the scene and two were taken to a hospital, Sgt. Ronald Harris said. Two other men were struck by gunfire, but “opted to seek their own medical attention.”
Authorities have not identified the victims nor suspects nor released details about what led to the shooting. Witnesses said it stemmed from a fight between two large groups.
Dwayne Edwards, 60, of Los Angeles, said he received a call from his nephew that his 28-year-old son, Astin Edwards, was one of those killed. His nephew told him his son was attempting to break up a fight when a gunman “just started unloading.”
“I’m thinking this is a dream and I’ll wake up,” Edwards told the Orange County Register. “He was a good kid. I don’t understand it.” A grieving mother told KABC-7 her 28-year-old son, Robert Meekins, was also trying to break up the fight and that Meekins and Astin Edwards were friends. “They were friends, so I know he probably jumped in and helped Astin and whoever he was with … but I don’t think my son deserved to die,” Anglean Hubbard said.
“My son was a loving person. He loved life, he loved his son and he loved his family. Nobody can imagine what I’m going through right now,” Hubbard said.
The third victim was 20-yearold Michael Radford, his sister Latrice Radford told the Torrance Daily Breeze.
“He was happy. He was always a protector,” Latrice said. “That’s how he got into this, he was trying to protect others.”
Wes Hamad, a 29-year-old Torrance resident, said he was at the bowling alley with his 13-year-old niece and cousin when he saw a “huge fight” break out. Hamad said the brawl, which lasted about five minutes, blocked the entrance and spiralled into “complete chaos.”
“I grabbed my niece and started running toward the far end of the bowling alley,” he said. “As we were running, we heard 15 shots.”
As he was leaving, Hamad said he saw a woman weeping over a man who was had gunshot wounds to his head and neck.
Hamad said he had never witnessed any violence there in the past. But Hamad said he had stopped going for a while because he heard someone with a gun was recently seen there.
“I definitely won’t be going back anymore,” he added.
In a tweet, California U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris said her heart breaks for the victims. “We must do more to address gun violence,” she said. “Americans should be able to go to a bowling alley and be safe.”