One man was killed and a bystander was wounded when at least one person opened fire on a car in Central Long Beach after an argument Monday, according to authorities.
The gunfire started around 8:40 p.m, police said. The car’s driver, 25-year-old Ruben Lopez, was headed south on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue when he got into an argument with a group of people about a block south of Anaheim Street, according to the LBPD.
“Several shots were fired in the direction of Lopez and the other passengers,” police said in a statement.
The gunfire apparently missed a 19-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman riding in Lopez’s car, but it hit him and also wounded a 17-year-old who was walking across MLK Jr. Avenue, police said. Detectives don’t think the boy was an intended target.
Medics took the boy to the hospital, and he’s expected to survive a wound in his lower body, police said. Lopez took himself to the hospital, where he died, police said.
It’s not clear how many people fired at the car, and there was no suspect description available beyond that they were male. Police said they believe the shooting was gang-related, which means they suspect it was committed by, for or at the direction of a gang.
The slaying came about five hours after another shooting just more than a mile away on East Hill Street near Pasadena Avenue. Police said they headed to a call about gunfire there around 4:05 p.m. and found bullet casings.
Officers couldn’t find any victims or suspects, but soon after, a boy showed up at a local hospital with gunshot wounds to his upper body, according to the LBPD. He’s expected to survived, department spokeswoman Jennifer De Prez said.
It’s not clear if the two incidents are connected.
Police said they’ll deploy more officers around the Anaheim Street corridor in response to the killing.
Editor’s note: This story was originally published Tuesday morning and updated Tuesday afternoon with additional details from police.
