At least one fight and a shooting were reported late Saturday afternoon in the areas of the Long Beach Pike and The Promenade after hundreds of teens gathered at the Pike for a planned meetup, police said.
A few hours before the violence, the Long Beach Police Department on social media said it was aware of a gathering planned for the Pike Outlets area of Downtown Long Beach. Police then deployed Saturday afternoon “to promote safety for all visitors and deter unlawful activity,” according to a department statement.
Police eventually cleared the teens from the scene, using a loudspeaker around 6 p.m. to threaten them with arrest for trespassing after the retail and entertainment businesses in the Pike closed early.
We’re aware of a group gathering planned for this afternoon in The Pike. We have increased our presence in the area. Criminal activity will not be tolerated.
See Something, Say Something – Report suspicious activity to Police Dispatch at 562.435.6711. Call 9-1-1 for emergencies. pic.twitter.com/eiqT6lbZEt
— Long Beach PD (CA) (@LBPD) March 16, 2024
At around 5:40 p.m., a fight broke out between a woman and a girl, according to LBPD, and officers quickly stopped the fight.
Officers arrested the two fighters.
News video from the scene showed the two females fighting and getting arrested, and a male who appeared to be a teenager being loaded into an ambulance.
A news videographer at the scene for OC Hawk reported the male had been shot at about 6:26 p.m. after an argument broke out between many juveniles.
Police said the shooting happened a few blocks north of the Pike at 1st Street and The Promenade and that he was shot in the leg, police said.
It’s not clear what led up to the gathering, the fight and shooting. At one point, teens were seen in the news video fleeing in a chaotic seen.
LBPD planned to increased patrols throughout the evening.
City News Service contributed to this story.
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