In today’s Press-Telegram, reporter Tracy Manzer tells the truly heartbreaking story of Austin Sarom Seng, a 20-year-old North Long Beach resident who was shot in the back and killed on Sunday as he tried to break up a fight between friends and gang members. Seng was a Lakewood High graduate and was attending Long Beach City College before his death, one in a series of three violent shootings that occurred over the weekend just days after the Long Beach Police Department announced that crime had decreased in 2008.
Three people were killed and two injured over the past weekend alone. In a previous article, Manzer reported that police suspected an ongoing gang feud had fueled one of the attacks. Seng’s death was also described as gang-related.
Just two months ago, the LBPD released a report entitled Long Beach Becomes Safer: LBPD Delivers Another Year Of Crime Reduction. Among the statistics provided, overall crime had dropped 5.9% while gang shooting had dropped 16.6% and gang murders fell by 36% over the previous year.
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor