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A man was shot several times in an alley in Venice this afternoon.
The shooting happened in the alley between the Fourth and Fifth avenues near Vernon Avenue around 1 p.m., LAPD Officer Sara Faden told LAist. Faden described the victim as a black 28-year-old male. (Eds. note: see updates below.)
LAPD Sgt. Brian Gura told City News Service that the victim was shot in the face, but he's expected to survive. Gura said they don't have too many facts about who might have opened fire on the man: "A gold Mercedes and white Honda were seen by witnesses shortly after the shooting. But we don't know if the shooter was in one of those cars or those cars were just in the area and left when the shooting occurred."
Police say it's too soon to know whether the shooting was gang-related, but gang units have been sent out to investigate. LA Weekly speculates that this shooting could be the result of a bitter feud between Playboy Gangster Crips of Crestview and the Venice Shorline Crips. Police told the Weekly that the LAPD's West Los Angeles division, which polices Crestview (where a 7-year-old was killed in a drive-by), was notified of today's shooting in Venice.
UPDATE 5 p.m.: LAPD Captain Brian Johnson says the victim is about 18-20 years old (as other outlets previously reported). The victim was shot two or three times—once in the hip/abdomen area but Johnson couldn't confirm reports he was also shot in the face. Anyone with tips about the shooting is encouraged to call 310-482-6404.
(Eds. note: A previous version of this post contained a photo of the wrong alley, and the correct photo has been swapped in.)
