LOS ANGELES — The shooting at a crowded San Pedro park Sunday afternoon that killed two people and wounded six was believed to be gang-related, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The LAPD said it got reports of a shooting just before 4 p.m. Pacific time at Peck Park, where about 500 people were gathered. A softball game and car show were taking place but it’s not clear if either event was connected to the incident.
The shooting occurred near the area of the baseball diamond, LAPD Officer Drake Madison said. The number of suspects is unknown, but the incident is believed to be gang-related and to have resulted from a dispute between two parties, he said.
Multiple firearms were recovered at the scene and entered into evidence, police said. As of 1 p.m. Monday, police didn’t have anyone in custody or a description of the suspects.
Eight people, including four women and four men, suffered gunshot wounds and were hospitalized, including a 29-year-old man and 31-year-old man who died at the hospital, according to Madison. The other six, including a man who transported himself to the hospital in a private vehicle, are stable.
While details of the shooting are still being sorted out, it appears Sunday’s outburst of violence stemmed from a long-simmering internal conflict among the Santana Blocc Crips gang, according to Cornell “Coach” Ward of Southern California CeaseFire Committee, a coalition of violence prevention groups.
“It’s like a civil war between Santana Blocc Crips,” Ward said of the Compton-based gang, which was formed in the late 1970s. “We don’t know what really sparked it, but bottom line, but when you have what we consider community events, it’s supposed to be no gunplay.”
Ward said that incidents like this are a part of a cycle of attacks and retribution sometimes dating back years that, if left unchecked, could result in more bloodshed. That’s why, he said, outreach workers have been reaching out to the gang members to soothe frayed nerves and hopefully stave off retaliatory attacks.
“That’s pretty much what we’re doing now,” Ward said. “We’re having some conversations amongst guys from that community and say, ‘Hey, let’s stay home and play defense, that means don’t go out and shoot somebody, don’t go out and retaliate,’ until we have a good idea of how we can get this thing squashed.”
Madison said he wasn’t aware of which specific gang was involved in the shooting but that it’s now “in the hands of the detectives.”
The LAPD declared a citywide tactical alert because of the large number of police officers sent to the scene. Madison said the park doesn’t appear to still be an active scene.
