Two people were killed and five wounded after gunfire erupted Sunday afternoon in San Pedro’s Peck Park, authorities said.
Police said there were approximately 500 people at the park just before 4 p.m., when they received reports of a shooting. A softball game was underway and a car show had drawn crowds, but it was not immediately clear if either event was connected to the shooting.
Initial reports indicated that the shooting took place at the park’s baseball diamond, according to officials.
“We don’t know how many shooters we have at this point,” Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Kelly Muniz said.
Muniz said the shooting was a dispute between two parties. Weapons were recovered at the scene, police said. As of 7 p.m., police did not have anyone in custody and had no description of suspects.
Seven people suffered gunshot wounds and were taken to hospitals, including a man and a woman who died, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Brian Humphrey.
Lola Warrant said she was watching a softball game when the shooting began. She said she ran and fell and saw people struck by gunfire, including a woman who was bleeding from the elbow and a man shot in the calf.
“They were carrying him,” Warrant said in an interview outside the park. “I get up to my car, and the guy’s laid out in front of my car.
“Somebody threw something on his face, and the police officers came, they took it off of his face, check his vitals and start pumping his chest,” she said.
Warrant said she was stranded at the scene because her car was parked near the site where someone died.
“It’s sad and heartbreaking that people still won’t talk,” said Skipp Townsend, a gang interventionist who visits the park regularly, standing outside the police tape with other onlookers. “You know, instead they pick up guns. So that’s heartbreaking, that we can have peaceful events in this area for, you know, two, three years straight with no incidents, and then one incident like this happens.”
The LAPD declared a citywide tactical alert because of the large number of officers sent to the scene. LAPD Officer Luis Garcia said the park had been closed, and police had directed people to head back to their vehicles and clear the area.
Around 8 p.m., people were still making their way out of the park.
Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.
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