A 36-year-old woman was fatally struck by a stray round intended for a gunman during a gang-related shooting near a mobile food vendor in Long Beach, which also left a teenager with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, police said Saturday.
The woman was identified as Alejandra Martinez of Long Beach, the Long Beach Police Department reported. Officers were dispatched to the scene of the shooting at the intersection of Magnolia Avenue and Anaheim Street at approximately 11:20 p.m. Friday. Several people were in a parking lot adjacent to the intersection buying food from a mobile vendor.
The suspect, who had already bought some food, confronted a group waiting for food. He then pulled out a handgun and fired several rounds toward that group. An unidentified person in the parking lot returned fire. The shooting was being investigated as gang-related.
Martinez had no gang affiliation and was believed to be an unintended target of the suspect, who was described as a man in his late 20s. He was last seen driving a sedan northbound on Magnolia Avenue.
Paramedics rushed Martinez to an area hospital, where she died from a gunshot wound to the upper body.
A juvenile victim suffered gunshot wounds to the upper torso and was later released from the hospital, police said. “Due to the recent increase in gang-related shootings and firearm assaults, the Long Beach Police Department will assign additional officers to reduce gun violence through high visibility patrols and enforcement in the areas impacted by these crimes,” police said in a statement.
Long Beach homicide detectives urged anyone with information regarding the shooting to call them at 562-570-7244 or LA Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
