UPDATE Tuesday, July 26, 2:01pm | The L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person or persons responsible for the March 24 murder of Philip Victor Williamson, a native of Chico who was living in Los Angeles at the time of his death.

Williamson was gunned down in a Pine Avenue alleyway, and detectives with the Long Beach Police Department believe his death could be linked to his distributing medical marijuana grown in Chico to various Long Beach and Los Angeles med-pot dispensaries.

Investigators believe Williamson, 29, may have had as much as $500,000 and several pounds of marijuana with him when he was killed

The reward was proposed by Supervisor Don Knabe, who said the money “may prompt reluctant witnesses to come forward.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact LBPD Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch or Donald Goodman at 562-570-7244. Callers may remain anonymous.

Anonymous tips can be submitted via text or e-mail by visiting the LBPD’s website,  LongBeach.gov/police, or by visiting Tipsoft.com.
 
UPDATE Monday, July 11, 2:32pm | Long Beach police have released video footage depicting a man whom police believe, based on physical evidence, had contact with murder victim Philip Victor Williamson on the day of his death.

Click here to view the footage.

Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman Nancy Pratt said the video footage is from a convenience store in the Los Angeles / Beverly Hills area. It depicts a man clad in a black sweatshirt and black pants making a purchase before driving away in a black Toyota 4Runner on the day Williamson was murdered. 

The receipt for that transaction, she said, was later found by detectives at Williamson’s residence.

The homicide detectives assigned to the case are trying to locate the man seen in the video to question him.

Last week’s announcement that detectives had reason to believe Williamson was associated with a black, four-door Toyota 4Runner on the day he was gunned down in an alley in the 1500 block of Pine Avenue yielded the video footage and other new leads, she said. 

Anyone with information is urged to contact LBPD Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch or Donald Goodman at 562-570-7244. Anonymous tips can be submitted via text or e-mail by visiting the LBPD’s website, LongBeach.gov/police, or by visiting Tipsoft.com.
 
Still shots of the video are posted below.

 
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Police have released this sketch of a vehicle that homicide detectives believe murder victim Philip Victor Williamson was associated with on the day of his death.
 
UPDATE Tuesday, July 5, 2:31pm | Long Beach Police Department Homicide detectives were able to develop multiple leads during a two-day trip to Chico in an attempt to identify individuals who might have been working with 29-year-old Philip Victor Williamson, who was shot to death in a Long Beach alley in March.

Williamson was involved in the distribution of medical marijuana to various Los Angeles-area dispensaries, and police believe this might have played a role in his death.
 
LBPD spokeswoman Lisa Massacani said that a public information bulletin distributed in several Chico neighborhoods as well as media coverage of the detectives’ trip in both the Chico and Los Angeles areas yielded a number of leads.

Detectives have learned of a possible connection between Williamson and a black, four-door Toyota 4-Runner SUV on the day of Williamson’s murder, Massacani said.

The detectives hope to locate the vehicle and identify its owner, whom they would like to question, she said.

Anyone with information is urged to contact LBPD Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch or Donald Goodman at 562-570-7244.

UPDATE Monday, June 27, 1:15pm | Long Beach homicide detectives traveled to the Northern California city of Chico on Monday as they continue to probe the March 24 murder of a Los Angeles man originally from Chico who was gunned down in a Pine Avenue alley.

According to the Long Beach Police Department, the victim, Philip Victor Williamson, 29, was involved in the distribution of medical marijuana grown in the Chico area to various medical marijuana collectives in the greater Los Angeles area.

LBPD spokeswoman Nancy Pratt said the detectives working the case will this evening distribute fliers as they canvas an area near Chico State University that Williamson was known to frequent.

The investigators headed north in an attempt to identify individuals Williamson was working with in Chico relative to the distribution of medical marijuana, as well as where he was and who he was with in the 24 hours leading up to his being shot in Long Beach, Pratt said.

March 28, 3:01pm | Long Beach police are asking for the public’s assistance in reconstructing the final hours of a Los Angeles man’s life before he was fatally shot last week in a Pine Avenue alleyway.
 
Officers with the Long Beach Police Department were dispatched to assist Long Beach Fire Department personnel with a man found lying in an alley in the 1500 block of Pine Avenue last Thursday night at about 10:26 p.m., according to information provided by LBPD spokeswoman Lisa Massacani.

The man, identified as 29-year-old Los Angeles resident Philip Victor Williamson, had been shot once in the upper body and was in critical condition as paramedics transported him to a local hospital, she said.

Williamson. who was born and raised in the northern California city of Chico and was known to frequent the West Los Angeles area, clung to life for just more than 24 hours before succumbing to his injury last Friday night, when he was pronounced dead at 10:44 p.m., Massacani said.

A preliminary investigation has revealed that Williamson had been shot a short time before a passerby found him lying in the alley and called police, she said.

Police have also learned that the victim was not known to frequent the Long Beach area, she said.

Homicide detectives assigned to the case are seeking the public’s help in determining Williamson’s last known whereabouts Thursday evening, as well as any other information pertaining to the incident, Massacani said.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact LBPD Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch or Donald Goodman at 562-570-7244.

Anonymous tips can be submitted via text or e-mail by visiting the LBPD’s website, LongBeach.gov/police or by visiting Tipsoft.com.