Police say they’re investigating a string of armed carjackings that have taken place in North Long Beach over the last week.
There is no suspect information available at this point, but police say all each incident involved three men robbing a person’s car at gunpoint.
Officers responded just after 8 p.m. on April 28 to 5500 block of Ackerfield Avenue to what would turn out to be the first of three carjackings.
At the scene, a man told officers that he was exiting his vehicle when three men approached him, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
One of the men pointed a gun at the victim, according to police, and demanded the keys to his vehicle, along with his other belongings. One of the suspects fired at least one shot into the air during the robbery and then fled the scene in the vehicle before officers got there.
The second carjacking took place on April 29, at around 2:20 p.m. in the 1600 block of Jackson Street, police said. At the scene, a teenager told police she had just picked up a boy and was parking in the area when three men approached her vehicle.
One of the men reached inside the car through the passenger window and pointed a gun at the teen, police said. The other two men proceeded to the driver’s side of the vehicle and pulled the teenager out of the car, police said.
The men and the boy the teen had picked up fled the scene in her car before officer’s arrived, authorities said.
The latest carjacking happened just after 9 p.m.in the 2600 block of 55th Way, police said. There, a man told police that he had just parked his vehicle and was unloading it when three men approached him and demanded his keys at gunpoint.
The suspects again took the vehicle and fled the scene before officers arrived.
At this time, police are working to determine whether the carjackings are connected. In the meantime, LBPD will be increasing their patrol in the areas that have been affected by the carjackings “out of an abundance of caution.”
#LBPD is investigating multiple armed carjacking incidents that have occurred the past week. Our detectives are working to determine if these incidents are connected. Out of an abundance of caution, we will have an increased patrol presence in the affected areas. (1/3)
— Long Beach PD (CA) (@LBPD) May 6, 2023