Seven people were wounded when at least two gunmen opened fire on a group of people outside a Long Beach nightclub Saturday night in what detectives believe was a gang-related attack, according to authorities.

The shooting occurred at about 11:15 p.m. near South Street and Paramount Boulevard, according to Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman Alexis Lauro.

A news videographer at the scene said the shooting occurred in the parking lot of the Prendido de Noche nightclub.

“The suspects fled the area immediately after the shooting,” police said in a statement.

The parking lot of a strip mall that includes the club Prendido de Noche in North Long Beach became an expansive crime scene on Sunday, May 5, 2024, after a shooting the night before wounded seven people. Photo by William Liang.

The area’s member of Congress, Rep. Nanette Barragán, called the shooting “horrifying.”

“My thoughts are with all those impacted by this senseless gun violence,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “But we need action.”

Long Beach has seen a rise in the number of shootings this year, including high-profile incidents where a 17-year-old girl was murdered and an Army veteran gardening outside his home was killed by stray gunfire.

In this case, detectives are now trying to piece together suspect descriptions and other details by interviewing witnesses and looking at security camera footage, the LBPD said.

Even though the investigation is still in its early stages and no motive is confirmed, police said they believe it was gang-related. That does not mean everyone involved was affiliated with a gang, but it does mean police believe the shooting was meant to further a gang’s interests.

The parking lot of a strip mall that includes the club Prendido de Noche in North Long Beach became an expansive crime scene on Sunday, May 5, 2024, after a shooting the night before wounded seven people. Photo by William Liang.

“The Long Beach Police Department has been actively investigating this shooting since late last night, and we will continue working until we identify and arrest those involved in this unacceptable act of gun violence,” Chief of Police Wally Hebeish said in a statement.

Police said all the people wounded in the shooting were men. Some were taken to the hospital by Long Beach Fire Department medics, and others went to the hospital themselves.

Four were in critical but stable condition Sunday, and the three others had injuries that weren’t life-threatening, police said.

Police urged anyone with information about what happened to contact detectives Juan Carlos Reyes or Sean Magee at 562-570-7244. The LBPD said there would be extra officers assigned to the neighborhood to talk with people and look for witnesses.