Early Sunday morning, a gunfight erupted at a house party on a quiet street in Inglewood when several shooters killed four people in what the mayor said appeared to be a targeted “ambush”.
Gang-related shootings have been the worst in the city since the 1990s, according to Mayor James Butts.
“These are sociopathic killers who need to be isolated from society,” he said. “Our entire homicide unit is working on this crime.”
According to Butts, the victims were shot at a house that was being used as an “unregulated” short-term rental in the 1300 block of Park Avenue around 1:45 a.m. By the time paramedics arrived, three people had died. Two others received medical attention on the spot, then taken to hospitals, where one died. According to official figures, two men and two women were among the dead.
Butts called the shooting an “ambush” style attack in statements to reporters at the scene. He said that there were several suspects, and one of them was armed with a machine gun.
The surviving victim indicated that he was connected to a gang in another city and had “an extensive criminal history,” Butts said. According to him, the targeted nature of the shooting, the weapons used and the statements of the suspects before the shooting indicate that the crime was linked to a criminal gang. He called it the highest number of single-crime shooting victims in Inglewood since the 1990s.
A family friend of one of the victims said the young woman was at her birthday party on Sunday.
The residence where the shooting took place is in the middle of a tree-lined neighborhood filled with historic homes. Patricia Bardley, 69, has been living three doors down for over 40 years. She said she was awakened by a phone call from a neighbor who told her that he had witnessed the shooting.
She was shocked to learn that paramedics were treating one gunshot victim lying on the sidewalk and two others in nearby yards.
An officer came to her door to interrogate her after a while. Looking outside, she saw police crowding her street and heard helicopters hovering over her head.
“All this is inappropriate for this area,” she said. “We were surprised that people are having such a big party. Usually it’s just family gatherings and stuff like that.”
Dion Cavitt, who also lives in the area, said he heard “continuous gunshots… cherry bombs don’t sound like that.”
Deloris Minor lives about a block away from the scene of the shooting and heard what she thought was high-caliber gunfire followed by a car heading north down Park Avenue. About half an hour later, Minor, 82, heard a woman crying loudly outside.
“She was crying and saying, ‘Why did you have to go to this party? I asked you not to come. “
About 30 people gathered Sunday afternoon at the corner of East Brett Street and North Park Avenue, a few hundred yards from the shooting site. Police tape sealed off the area, and about a dozen yellow evidence markers could be seen in front of the house where the party was held as the police questioned residents and searched for clues.
Neither an Inglewood police spokesman nor detectives responded to questions about the circumstances of the shooting.
On Sunday evening, about 20 people gathered in front of a memorial erected at the corner of Brett Street and Park Avenue. Relatives embraced in front of a table adorned with photos of two young women who died in the gunfight and balloons that read “Happy Birthday”.
A family friend of the victims said that the two women shown in the photographs were sisters. They were celebrating their younger brother’s birthday when they were shot.
The shooting comes at a time when the region is facing an increase in gun violence. Although recent crime statistics were not available in Inglewood on Sunday, nearby communities have seen a spike in shootings and homicides in the past year.
Los Angeles had 397 homicides in 2021, the most in a single year in 15 years. In Los Angeles County, there were 281 homicides in cities and unincorporated communities administered by the Sheriff’s Department.
Law enforcement officials in both areas blamed the rise in homicides on the increased availability of guns, exacerbating the destabilizing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities.
Sunday’s shooting occurred about 2.5 miles north of SoFi Stadium, where Super Bowl LVI will take place in about two and a half weeks.