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Police Arrest 12 In Mass Shooting At 2019 Long Beach Party; Say Gang Mistakenly Targeted Location
Screenshot from Long Beach Police Department news conference where Chief Robert Luna outlined the murder investigation (Courtesy LBPD)
Long Beach police have arrested 12 people suspected of carrying out a deadly mass shooting at a Halloween-themed birthday party last year.
Three men were killed and nine other people were hurt last Oct. 29 when a group of suspects parked in an alley behind a house in the city's Rose Park neighborhood and began firing into the backyard. Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna says eight of the suspects are known members of a local gang — giving detectives a possible motive for the violence:
"This is an extremely complex and detailed case, and we now know that this was a pre-planned attack on what the suspects incorrectly believed to be a party of rival gang members."
Long Beach Chief of Police, Robert G. Luna will provide updated information regarding the shooting and murder investigation on the 2700 block of East 7th Street that occurred on October 29, 2019. Multiple arrests made. https://t.co/vOmxKs4iJo
— Long Beach PD (CA) (@LBPD) September 8, 2020
They recovered eight firearms in the process — three of which they said were untraceable "ghost guns."
At the time of the shooting, neighbors said they were stunned by the level of violence, in part because they had never witnessed any issues at that location which has a nail salon in front and a home behind.
Scene of mass shooting on the morning after gunmen opened fire on a Halloween party in Long Beach on 7th Street. (Megan Garvey/LAist)
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MORE ON THE CASE
- Read the news release for details about those arrested and the investigation (LBPD)
- 12 arrested in October mass shooting; police say killers mistakenly targeted party (Long Beach Post)
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