A woman was shot in Downtown Long Beach early Tuesday morning, and police say they’re investigating the incident as a hate crime.
Police said the woman was involved in an altercation with a man near Long Beach Boulevard and Seventh Street when he shot her around 2 a.m.
During the altercation, the man made a comment to the woman that appeared to be “hate-motivated,” the Long Beach Police Department said in a statement. An LBPD spokesperson declined to say what the comments were.
The man fled, and Long Beach Fire Department personnel took the woman to a local hospital to treat a gunshot wound to her lower body, police said. The injury was not life-threatening, according to the LBPD.
California law defines a hate crime as any criminal act targeted at someone because of their perceived race, gender, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability. In this case, police would not say what protected group they believe the suspect was targeting.
Hate crimes in Long Beach saw a spike in 2018 followed by a decline or flat rate over the past few years. But this year in Long Beach, hate crimes have been on the upswing, with more during the first half of the year than all of last year combined. That data showed that the most frequently targeted groups over the past few years have been LGBTQ+ people and Black people.