Two people were arrested for fighting and a 16-year-old boy was shot at a large gathering at the Pike retail/entertainment area in downtown Long Beach, authorities said Sunday.
Saturday’s gathering was announced on social media and drew a large police presence, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
The 16-year-old boy was shot around 6:26 p.m. at First Street and The Promenade, and was rushed to a hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his lower body, police said. A shell casing and other evidence was found at the scene and detectives were investigating the shooting, but no motive or suspect information was immediately available.
Officers deployed earlier Saturday afternoon “to promote safety for all visitors and deter unlawful activity,” according to LBPD Sgt. Bradford Stein.
Video from the scene showed a large number of juveniles and young adults.
At about 5:40 p.m., officers saw a woman and a girl fighting at Bay Street and Aquarium Way, Stein said. Officers stopped the fight and arrested both.
Some Pike businesses chose to close early out of an abundance of caution, police added.
“Last night, we had hundreds of juveniles come to The Pike as part of a viral social media meet up,” LBPD Chief Wally Hebeish said in a social media post Sunday. “Our officers were prepared and extremely visible throughout the downtown area. In addition to spreading available resources throughout various other parts of the city, we found it necessary to declare a Stage 2 Tactical Alert, meaning we held over our day shift officers and deployed our afternoon shift officers quickly to ensure we were able to support the group activity in downtown, as well as respond to calls for service citywide.
“At one point, a fight broke out, and officers immediately intervened by running into a large crowd, taking control of the situation, and arresting both suspects involved,” Hebeish continued. “Shortly thereafter, a shooting occurred outside of The Pike area — again, officers were almost immediately on scene and began providing medical aid to the victim. We’re actively investigating the incident and will hold the suspect responsible for their actions.
“I am incredibly proud of the efforts of our officers last night, and I want to reiterate that the Long Beach Police Department will not tolerate criminal acts or violence in our community.”
Anyone with information regarding the shooting was urged to call the LBPD at 562-435-6711. Anonymous calls can be made to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or tips may be sent to lacrimesstoppers.org.
