A 17-year-old suspect was arrested in connection with the shooting death of a 26-year-old man that led to a overnight search in a Long Beach neighborhood.
Details regarding the arrest were not immediately available. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of murder with a gang enhancement, according to police.
The shooting was reported around 9:10 p.m. near 14th and Gundry streets. Police arrived and found a man suffering from gunshot wounds, according to the Long Beach Police Department. The victim was taken to a hospital in critical condition and later died, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
The victim's father identified him as 26-year-old Jeffery Keo, a Poly High School graduate. The family came to the United States from Cambodia in 1984, living in the Bay Area and Southern California.
"I really don't know what happened," said father Pich Keo. "I just want to know why he died. He's a nice kid."
Keo said he last saw his son, who lived with him after recently moving back to Long Beach from San Francisco, around 4 p.m. Tuesday before he was expected to go to work that night. Friends picked him up for dinner before his shift, Keo said.
Keo's mother, Dorothy Dip, said she couldn't comprehend why anyone would want to hurt her son.
"He's a good student. He's working hard, trying to provide for himself and for our family," she said, after learning about the arrest of her son's alleged killer. "He never mention that he was threatened or he was bullied or anything."
Investigators would only disclose that the shooting happened after "a confrontation."
Dip said her son was never the type to be in a gang. He lived at home and was saving money for a new car.
She said the last words she told her son were to "Just be careful out there. When you get to work, text me or call me."
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He said "Yes, Mom."
