Police were searching Friday for the person who fatally shot a 49-year-old man from Long Beach inside an illegal gambling operation.
The shooting took place about 1:05 a.m. Thursday in the 1500 block of West Pacific Coast Highway, according to Long Beach police.
Officers on patrol noticed a group of people gathered together on the sidewalk at that location. A witness told an officer that a man had been shot in the chest, police said.
Officers started performing CPR on the victim, later identified as Johnny Akins, police reported. Paramedics then took Akins to a hospital, with what at the time were believed to be non-life-threatening injuries. However, on Friday police were told that Akins had died at the hospital, and homicide detectives then began an investigation.
Akins was believed to have been in a gambling establishment in the block where he was shot. Evidence of the shooting, along with several illegal gambling machines were found at the site of the shooting, police reported. A motive for the shooting was unknown.
Anyone with information on this homicide was asked to call Long Beach police detectives at 562-570-7244. Tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers at 800- 222-8477.
