A man was fatally shot early Sunday, Aug. 18 morning in North Long Beach.
Personnel with the Long Beach Fire Department found 43-year-old Ali Jabbar Phannix at the 600 block of E South Street with gunshot wounds to his upper body and declared him deceased at the scene.
Homicide detectives from the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) were called to the scene to investigate.
That same night, police responded to a report of another shooting in North Long Beach, in which an unoccupied vehicle had been struck by gunfire in the 5800 block of Lime Avenue.
The day before Phannix was killed, a man reported to police that his car had been struck by gunfire while he was driving in North Long Beach. The suspect or suspects fled before officers arrived at the scene.
Residents who keep up with the local news may remember numerous recent cases of shootings in North Long Beach. A 16-year-old boy was killed and his relative was injured earlier this month. A gunman fired at two other men during an argument over a car in June. A mass shooting in May injured seven people. In April, a father was killed while standing outside his home.
The police have not released any information about possible suspect(s) in Monday’s shooting, the Aug. 4 shooting that killed a teen boy, or the May mass shooting. However, detectives believe there are unidentified witnesses to these crimes, and are asking them to come forward.
Five suspects were arrested in the homicide of 51-year-old Mario Morales-Moreno in April. Taylor Byron Woods, Tyrell Deshawn Louden, Jordan Omarion Stokes, Semaj Lamar Obrien and Jamie Tucker are all being held on $2 million bail, and are due back in court on Aug. 28.
Higher population density and rates of poverty linked to higher gun violence
The shootings that make it into the news are only a sliver of the gun violence that occurs in the 90805 zip code. According to data obtained from the Long Beach Police Department through a public records request, 1,665 people have been victims of shootings in North Long Beach from January 2007 to April 2024.
The 90805 zip code represents the largest number of victims in any zip code in Long Beach during this period in time. It is one of the City’s largest zip codes, encompassing 7.4 square miles of land, and has the third most victims per capita.
Approximately 95,740 people reside in the 90805 zip code, or approximately 13,000 people per square mile, making it the fourth most densely populated area of Long Beach, according to censusreporter.org, a nonprofit website that aggregates census data.
The 90805 zip code is closest in size to the 90815 zip code, which covers 7.1 miles of land and houses 42,759 people. In comparison, 90815 is far less populated, with approximately 6,000 people per square mile. From 2007 to April 2024, 113 people were victims of shootings in the 90815 zip code.
The 90805 zip code has a poverty rate of 18.9%, while 90815 has a poverty rate of 7.4%, according to census data. The state average is 12.2%.
In May, LBPD released a memo informing the public that shootings were up compared to last year. In April, there had already been 11 murders citywide since the beginning of the year, compared to six at the same point in time in 2023.
LBPD said it has reallocated staff and resources to create the new High Crime Focus Team, which is supposed to work with the existing Neighborhood Safety Bike Team to provide proactive enforcement in high-crime areas of the city. Each division of the LBPD has two bike patrol officers assigned to it, including the North Division in North Long Beach.
The Signal Tribune emailed the LBPD to ask what areas of North Long Beach its bike officers patrol. The LBPD would not specify where these officers patrol, only that their routes vary based on data.
Anyone with information regarding Sunday’s shooting is urged to contact Homicide Detectives Michael Hubbard or Jesus Espinoza at (562) 570-7244. Anonymous tips may be submitted through “LA Crime Stoppers” by calling 800-222-TIPS (8477) or by visiting www.lacrimestoppers.org.
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