A man was shot to death and another was wounded in Central Long Beach Sunday night when two men approached and shot them, police said.
Officers responded to a call about the gunshot call at around 11:08 p.m. at the intersection of 20th Street and Wesley Drive where they found the victims, police said. They found one victim with gunshot wounds to the upper body in the roadway along the 1300 block of Wesley Drive where he was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Police found the second victim nearby suffering from gunshot wounds to his upper body. He was then transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said. He is in stable condition, according to the LBPD.
The suspects, two unknown men, approached the victims on foot, police said. There was then “a brief exchange of words before at least one of the suspects produced a handgun and shot the victims,” according to the department.
The two victims don’t know each other and were “involved in separate activities when confronted by the suspects,” police said.
The suspects were last seen fleeing the area on foot westbound on Wesley Drive toward Orange Avenue, police said.
Detectives are investigating the incident as gang-related, police said. The LBPD defines gang-related crimes as any crime committed “for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with any criminal street gang.”
The victim who died is being identified only as a 37-year-old Long Beach resident pending notification to the next of kin by the county coroner’s office, police said.
Anyone with any information regarding the incident was urged to contact Detectives Adrian Garcia or Sean Magee at 562-570-7244. Anonymous tips may be submitted through Crime Stoppers by calling 800-222-TIPS (8477).