LA shooting that injured five happened near gun buyback event: ‘Tragically ironic’

Five people were injured in a shooting at a Los Angeles beach Saturday night mere miles from where local officials held a gun buyback event earlier that day.

Gunfire broke out at Royal Palms Beach in San Pedro around 5:45 p.m., police said. Four of the five people injured were taken to the hospital by emergency personnel, while a fifth was transported by a friend.

“We have some in critical condition, some stable and some serious,” said Lt. Sharon Brady of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Community Police Station, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The shooting took place a few miles from where a gun buyback event was held earlier that same day. The event, hosted by Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn and the police department, allowed residents to exchange their unwanted firearms for gift cards.

At least 45 guns and at least four assault weapons were exchanged for guns, Hahn said on Twitter.

In a joint statement, Hahn and LA City Councilman Tim McOsker said they were “outraged and saddened” by the shooting.

“It’s tragically ironic that today we hosted a gun buy-back event just a few miles away from this location. Gun violence is wreaking havoc on our community,” they said.

Royal Palms Beach will be closed Sunday as officials investigate the shooting.

The beach will also be closed “earlier on weekends as we work on plans together to ensure safety and peaceful community use,” Hahn and McOsker said in the statement.

No suspects have been arrested in connection to the shooting as of Saturday night.

Police told KTLA on Saturday that two male suspects had approached a group of people in their 20s and 30s who were on the beach and they got into an altercation.

Following the altercation, the duo fired at least ten rounds from a semi-automatic handgun before fleeing the scene in a silver sedan.

The victims were reportedly between the ages of 15 and 51. Four of the five victims were said to be in stable condition while one was in critical condition, according to police.