Neighborhoods in Downtown, Central, West and North Long Beach have borne the brunt of the surge in gun violence, according to data mapped by the Long Beach Post.
An announcement from the Long Beach Police Department said that its homicide detectives have gathered “significant evidence” apparently linking Efren Abril to the Aug. 5 killing of 29-year-old Antonio Parra and 28-year-old Brian Gomez who were found with gunshot wounds in a parking lot near St. Mary’s Medical Center.
Last month, there were 37 shootings, with someone being hit by gunfire in 18 of them.
Two deputies badly wounded in an ambush shooting last year have sued a company for making the parts for a “ghost gun” used in the attack.
Three people, including a teenage boy, were injured after a string of shootings took place Friday night and early Saturday morning, Long Beach police said.
Shootings were up 145% over the first three months of 2021 compared to the previous year, according to police data.
In a separate shooting in Central Long Beach less than an hour earlier, a parked and unoccupied vehicle was struck will bullets.
Authorities are investigating three separate shootings in Long Beach Saturday evening and into Sunday morning, including one in which a person was hospitalized with gunshot wounds, police said.
Police are investigating these three separate shootings and say that they believe they are unrelated to each other.
With a total of 381 shootings across the city, there were significantly more in 2020 than the previous four years, which had an annual average of 232 shootings.
