May closed with the news of violence near Polytechnic High School, as the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) told the Signal Tribune that officers responded to a shots call May 31 along the 400 block of east 17th Street.
The shooting, which the department stated occurred at approximately 1:15pm, left one male adult victim with a non-life threatening gunshot wound to his lower torso. He was self-transported to a local hospital, according to Jennifer De Prez, LBPD public-information officer.
In its email to the Signal Tribune Tuesday, the LBPD stated that the suspect’s descriptions and motives were unknown at this time. LBPD gang-detail detectives also responded to the scene.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Former Long Beach Councilmember Tonia Reyes Uranga sent an email to the Signal Tribune Tuesday afternoon to express her remorse about the situation and rallied for the Long Beach community to not fall into “silence” about circumstances involving local youth and violence.
“[…] I am, therefore, asking for a coalition of community members, parents, school and public-safety personnel to meet and to stand together against what appears to be a rising tide of violence around some of our schools,” the former councilmember wrote. “I ask that we reassess the number of our school-safety officers and asses our safe-streets operations to determine if our students are being provided with the protection they deserve and, more importantly, with the assurance to parents that our schools are safe.”
For those who may have information about the incident, contact the LBPD at (562) 435-6711.