5 people hurt in shooting near a gun buyback event in LA
A suspect was said to have fled the area in a car, but no arrests had been made as of Saturday evening.
Local authorities reported that at least five people were injured in a shooting at a Los Angeles beach Saturday night, just a few miles from the site of a gun buyback ceremony organized earlier in the day by police and a city official.
Lt. Sharon Brady of the Los Angeles Police Department's Harbor Community Police Station stated that officers responded to a complaint of a shooting near Royal Palms Beach in the San Pedro area at 5:44 pm, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
“We have some in critical condition, some stable, and some serious,” Brady said.
Janice Hahn, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and Tim McOsker, a member of the Los Angeles City Council, expressed their outrage, stressing that they are "saddened by the shooting at Royal Palms Beach in San Pedro that has left 5 people injured."
"It's tragically ironic that today we hosted a gun buy-back event just a few miles away from this location. Gun violence is wreaking havoc on our community," they added.
A suspect was said to have fled the area in a car, but no arrests had been made as of Saturday evening.
It is worth noting that the gun buyback event held in Wilmington was hosted by Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn in partnership with the police department. At least 45 guns were exchanged for gift cards at the event, Hahn said.
The overflow of weapons in the United States and soaring shootings caused several killings and injuries only a few days apart.
Recently, the United States has been rocked by a succession of high-profile mass shootings, including in schools, churches, grocery stores, and hospitals.