A gang-related shooting overnight left one man dead and another wounded at a South Los Angeles area strip mall just hours after a similar incident less than two miles away injured five.
Gunfire was reported around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday outside a barber shop near West Century Boulevard and Main Street in the Broadway-Manchester neighborhood.
Arriving officers found two victims, including a 25-year-old man who was pronounced dead at the scene. A 51-year-old man was transported to a local hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson confirmed to KTLA.
Witnesses told investigators that several suspects pulled up to the victims, exited a vehicle, and then fired multiple rounds at them. The suspects then got back into the vehicle and fled the scene.
Police believe the shooting is gang-related and are working to determine if it is connected to another gang shooting that left five people injured in the nearby Vermont Knolls area around 2:30 p.m.
That incident, which took place at a shopping plaza on South Figueroa Street and Manchester Avenue, prompted a response from both LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.
“We’re always concerned about retaliation shootings, and as such, as soon as we identify what potential gangs were involved, we put our people and our resources in the right place to create a deterrent effect and to use the intel we have to hold people accountable and do what we can to disrupt that kind of activity,” McDonnell said at a Tuesday night press conference.
“This is devastating and will not be tolerated,” Bass said in a statement. “I’m working with community leaders and our @LAPDPoliceChief to prevent future incidents. LAPD will increase their presence in South LA and violence interventionists are working to de-escalate tensions. Together, we call for peace.”
KTLA’s Alexis Lewis contributed to this report.