3 dead after shooting in L.A.-area bowling alley
TORRANCE, CALIF.
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, which offers bowling, laser tag and an arcade. They found se- ven 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 or suspects or released details about what led to the shooting.
But 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.
“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.”
Wes Hamad, a 29-yearold Torrance resident, 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 spiraled into “complete chaos.”
“I grabbed my niece and started running toward the far end of the bowling al- ley,” he said. “As we were running, we heard 15 shots.”
Damone Thomas was in the karaoke section of the bowling alley, a regular stop for him and his friends after work on Fridays, when people ran in saying there was a shooting. The 30year-old Los Angeles resident said his friend flipped a table to shield them as they heard gunshots.
Thomas and Hamad said they 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.