Some Long Beach politicians say they want to crack down on nightlife on Second Street after an incident at a local bar reportedly spiraled into a deadly shooting in an adjacent neighborhood.
“Let’s be clear — the growing disorder and unsafe behavior linked to certain late-night establishments is unacceptable and will not be ignored,” Mayor Rex Richardson said in a statement.
The killing on Saturday was the result of an altercation at a local bar, police said, but declined to say exactly which one.
It’s the third death in two years near the bustling nightlife district full of shops, restaurants and bars. In early 2024, a 20-year-old Long Beach man was stabbed to death during a fight and a 32-year-old man was fatally shot two weeks later.
Councilmember Kristina Duggan, who represents the area, said she wants a temporary midnight curfew for bars on Second Street. Currently, there are four that stay open until 2 a.m. Duggan said she will also request more DUI checkpoints near Second Street, where she said there have been “several other previous incidents” in which people “went to their car, got a weapon and committed a crime.”
She blamed this on people from outside of Long Beach who come to Second Street to party.
“What used to be a college hangout and neighborhood gathering place has become more of a regional nightlife destination,” Duggan said in a statement. “The reality is, Belmont Shore is not designed to operate as a regional late-night entertainment district.”
Authorities identified the victim in Saturday’s shooting as Jeremy Spears, 32. Police said he was involved in some kind of “incident” at a bar before being killed around 1:40 a.m. on La Verne Avenue just a few hundred feet from Second Street.
Officers have arrested 41-year-old Jason Loving, of Harbor City, and 31-year-old Dasmine Hall, of Compton, on suspicion of murder.
Outside a house on La Verne Avenue, friends of Spears set up a vigil Monday with dozens of candles and flowers.
Spears grew up in Westside Long Beach and was an avid skateboarder from a young age, said his cousin Branden Webb.
When they were in their early teens, their favorite after-school activity was to gather with friends and skate at various parks. Spears was known in the group for his filming prowess, but could hold his own with the skateboard as well.
Spears was always a “positive force,” Webb said. Roughly three years ago, he put together a workout group called Muscle Beach. Through the group, which grew to roughly 50 members at its peak, Spears would host weekly calisthenic workouts at Alamitos Beach and other spots.
After friends found out about Spears’ death, they spent Sunday morning doing pushups and pull-ups in his honor.
Mason Malone, one of Spears’ friends, said he met him through skateboarding when they were teens, but the two stayed in touch and Malone was eventually part of Muscle Beach. Spears, who was older than Malone, used to drive the group around to various skateparks in his Chevrolet sedan — a significant upgrade from the 20-mile journeys they used to take on their boards to various skateparks.
Marcos Sumeta, another of Spears’ friends, said he was finishing up a shift as a truck driver when he received a text informing him of Spears’ death.
He had known Spears for more than a decade. The two met through Sumeta’s brother, who met Spears at Millikan High School.
Through the years, Sumeta had called Spears to help with odd jobs like moving furniture and working at the Long Beach Convention Center.
“He was always ready to help,” Sumeta said.
Sumeta said he was planning to contact Spears this week to hire Spears to photograph his baby shower.
Webb said he still doesn’t know details of the events that led to Spears’ death, but he was hesitant to blame the bars on their own.
“I don’t know what it is, because there’s bars everywhere,” Webb said. “People just need to be more mindful of life in itself. It’s a very precious thing to be here one day and gone tomorrow.”