California: shooting in Long Beach leaves three dead and nine injured

USA - A shooting in Long Beach, California, late on Tuesday left three men dead and nine people injured, authorities said. The shooting took place around 10.44pm, the Long Beach fire department said.

The deadly gunfire broke out at a home where a Halloween party was being held, with people at the home were wearing costumes, according to reports. When firefighters and paramedics arrived at the home, they “identified a scene obviously full of chaos”, Jake Heflin, fire department spokesman, said in a video posted to Twitter by a Los Angeles Times reporter. “The scene is obviously still under investigation,” Heflin said. Long Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer De Prez said that responding officers discovered victims both outside and inside the residence, the Los Angeles Times reported. Several suspects remain at large. It is unclear what prompted the shooting, and whether the shooter or shooters knew the victims, KTLA 5 reported. Some locals told the media that they heard nearly 20 shots.

After the gunfire, Oswaldo Morales told the LA Times that everything in the vicinity of the party went quiet. “Silence, you didn’t hear a thing,” he said. Squad cars and helicopters rushing to the scene alerted neighbors to the incident.

“I was on 4th and Walnut when I heard the gunshots. Some of us in the neighborhood thought it was fireworks, but the racing @ LBPD squad cars & low flying helicopters gave the impression that it was more serious. Unfortunately, it was,” local resident Oscar Cancio tweeted. The shooting comes amid ongoing debate on how to combat gun violence that runs rampant in the US. While California has the toughest gun laws of all US states, this week’s incident may mark the third mass shooting in California in 2019, the New York Times reported. (The Guardian)