The Long Beach Police Department was investigating on Sunday, April 16 after an LBPD officer shot and injured a suspect who may have been involved in three other shootings.
According to Michael Pennino, LBPD Commander of Special Investigations, officers responded to a shooting at 3rd Street and Elm Avenue at around 4:44 p.m. and found that no one had been struck by gunfire. Dispatchers announced a description of the suspect, a male who fled the scene.
At 4:46 p.m., an officer on patrol near Ocean Boulevard and Elm Avenue heard shots, found the suspect, and shot him in the torso. The suspect was transported to a hospital by the Long Beach Fire Department and was expected to survive.
A handgun was recovered at the scene, Pennino said. No officers were injured.
“The preliminary investigation indicates the suspect fired shots at the officer,” said a police statement.
Officers said that the same suspect may have been involved in two other shootings Sunday afternoon — one at 1:02 p.m. in the 600 block of Ocean Boulevard, where no one was hit, and another at 2:58 p.m. in the 700 block of Atlantic Avenue, where one man was shot. He is expected to survive.
Police did not immediately identify the suspect and said they didn’t know the motive for the shootings.
Authorities did not believe the shootings were related to the nearby Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which concluded its racing weekend Sunday, though some race-goers faced delays in leaving because of street closures associated with the shooting investigation.
“This is a big event for the city, and we had a lot of resources here to keep people safe,” Pennino said. “I believe those resources are what led to the immediate apprehension of the suspect.”