One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
New Year's Morning Left 5 Dead in LA County
The year got started to the type bang no one wants to hear about. In the first early morning hours of 2009, at least five people were shot dead from Long Beach to Pomona to Los Angeles, the LA Times reports. Two people were killed outside a party in Long Beach when shots broke out before 12:40 a.m. Around the same time, officers were arriving to a call in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Panorama City where a man was reportedly firing shots and threatening his family at a party. Officers searched the residence, eventually finding him two hours later in the converted garage where they fatally shot him after he allegedly armed. At 3:45 a.m., a woman entered a police station to turn herself in for killing her husband in Pomona. About 15 minutes later in Studio City, a man was shot on the street outside a party. In 2008, LA had the lowest murder rate since 1969.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
