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City Councilman Eric Garcetti said it best in a statement this morning: "This morning there was another tragic shooting in my district that resulted in the death of a 13 year-old boy. We are losing too many young people to senseless violence, and we must all -- elected officials, community leaders, local residents, businesses and law enforcement -- work together to end it."

Last night 13-year-old Anthony Escobar went outside to pick lemons off his tree on the 800 block of North Bonnie Brae Street. His family, who was wondering where he was, went outside to look for him, finding him on the ground in the driveway.

Police say it was "possibly gang-related" and did not find any witnesses to the shooting after a perimeter search that lasted until 2 a.m. Anyone with information on the case was urged to call detectives John Motto or George Lee at the Rampart Station, (213) 207-2060, or the 24-hour toll- free hotline (877) LAWFULL.

The rest of Gracetti's statement:

Earlier this week, my colleague Councilmember Jan Perry brought people together in South Los Angeles to start the process of working together and communicating with each other to make their neighborhood safer. Tomorrow and every Saturday this month, people will be gathering in the Glassell Park neighborhood of my district to work with their neighbors and the police department to help reduce violence and crime there. I want to express my appreciation to Chief Bratton and the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department for their quick response to last night's shooting and their ongoing work to protect our neighborhoods. I am committed to reducing crime in our city, and will not stop working to put more officers on the street and expand opportunities for at-risk youth until we end this senseless violence.

Photo by guamafro via Flickr