Two teenagers were shot to death Sunday night at a Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club carnival in Lincoln Heights, according to authorities.
The boys were between the ages of 15 and 17 and were approached by a man while attending the carnival in the 2700 block of North Broadway shortly before the shooting, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
The man approached the boys, shot them several times and then drove away, police said. The shooting was reported shortly after 9 p.m. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the scene, where the boys died, according to the LAPD. One of the victims died on the sidewalk a few feet from a carnival ride, according to a video from OnScene.TV.
The fair was organized by the Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club, according to its website. The group’s social media page posted a photo of a broken heart on Monday morning.
It’s unclear if the shooting was gang-related, the LAPD said.
In an interview with OnScene.TV, festival attendee Merilyn Itzeb described seeing a fight at a nearby gas station before the shooting. She said she heard gunshots and saw a crowd of people running, and then saw a body on the ground.
Maria Elias, whose flower shop has been on North Broadway for nearly two decades, said she was closing up shop Sunday night when she heard gunshots. When she came out, the shooting had stopped. She said she saw a girl and a boy walking on the sidewalk and the boy was asking for help. She wasn’t sure if he was shot, but then saw him fall to the ground, Elias said.
On Monday morning, she stopped by a memorial erected for one of the teenagers. She broke down.
“How sad”, Elias said in Spanish. “He was walking and fighting for his life. Then he fell. I saw him there, just there, and somebody was giving him CPR.”
Several other people stopped by the memorial to lay candles and flowers Monday morning. Elias promised to bring flowers. She cried again, and a man walking by with a cane cried with her.
Friends lit candles. They said the boy’s name was Michael and he was a student at Lincoln High School. His nickname was “Saner” and some of his friends signed the candles with “Long Live Saner”.
“He was a good kid,” said a 19-year-old named Oscar, who did not want to give his last name. “I knew him since high school. I watched him grow up.”
Oscar and other mourners at the memorial said the teenager was not in a gang.
Representatives with the intervention of the non-profit group Soledad Richment Action left candles. Mirna Romero, the organization’s chief financial officer, said she was unaware whether the boy was a client of its programs. The group has an office across from Lincoln High School.
