An investigation was continuing yesterday into an altercation that prompted a Long Beach Unified School District safety officer to shoot an 18-year-old woman who was inside a vehicle being driven away from the scene near Millikan High School.
According to the Long Beach Police Department, its officers responded at 3:12 p.m. Monday to the area of Spring Street and Palo Verde Avenue near the high school in response to a reported shooting. When they arrived, officers found the woman with at least one gunshot wound to the upper body, Long Beach Police spokesman Brandon Fahey said.
She was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Officers determined an LBUSD school safety officer was driving in the area when he observed the woman involved in an altercation with a 15-year-old girl in the street, according to Arantxa Chavarria of the Long Beach Police Department.
Investigators also determined a 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy were involved in the dispute, though their level of involvement was not immediately known.
When the woman, the man and the boy attempted to leave the scene in a vehicle, the school safety officer approached the car and fired into the vehicle as the driver was pulling away, striking the woman in the front passenger seat, according to the LBPD.
Video of the shooting posted online appears to show the unidentified officer firing at least two shots at the car.
Millikan High School confirmed in a statement that no students were injured in the shooting.
Investigators determined the woman initiated the original altercation and that she and the 15-year-old girl “are known to each other,” though the motive for the altercation was unknown, Chavarria said.
Fahey said the investigation was ongoing. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office is also conducting an independent investigation of the shooting.
Update: Wednesday, Sept 29 at 1:58 p.m. Story was updated to reflect that the man involved in the initial altercation was 20 years old, according to Long Beach police.