Long Beach teen shot in broad daylight

Police respond to another shooting at Channel Park Homes

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Long Beach police responded to another shooting in the Channel Park Homes area last Saturday — the second at the apartment complex this month — in which a Long Beach teen was wounded.

Police Commissioner Michael Tangney said the incident occurred at 1:30 p.m. on North Drive. When officers arrived on the scene, they discovered a trail of blood from North Drive to Oak Court. Bystanders told police that the victim, a 19-year-old man, did not wait for an ambulance and was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital by a relative. 

According to Tangney, the victim, whose name was not released, was shot once in the leg, and when officers arrived at South Nassau to question him, he was uncooperative. “We were in the process of taking a statement from his mother until the victim told his mother not to talk to police,” Tangney said. 

On June 1, a man was shot in the arm at the Channel Park Homes apartment complex, at 500 Center St. Police do not believe the incidents are related, Tangney said, and there is no indication of any gang activity. Rather, police believe that the shootings were both disputes between local youth. Tangney said that both incidents are under investigation. 

“We knew that there was a party Saturday night in the Channel Park Homes,” he said of last weekend’s shooting. “And we had extra officers assigned in the area; we’ve increased the patrols in both the Channel Park Homes and North Park in anticipation of the summer months. That’s when all parts of the city get busy, and that area has an increase in crime, unfortunately. We do have a finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the neighborhood, but we can’t be everywhere 24/7, and we can’t get cooperation from the neighborhood — it’s very frustrating.”

Tangney also said that the latest incident was not related to a shooting near the boardwalk on June 18.

Last November, a late-night shooting near Channel Park Homes left one man injured after more than 30 shots were fired, an incident that Tangney also said is unrelated. It is still under investigation, but police have expressed frustration with both the victim and witnesses, who refuse to cooperate with investigators. A community rally was held at the complex in November, and about 100 residents joined city officials to protest gun violence and gang activity. Tangney, city officials and community leaders urged residents to speak up and put aside fears of being a “snitch.”

One Channel Park resident, who declined to be identified, said that some of the incidents are gang-related. “A lot of people don’t speak out, unfortunately — it’s that whole snitch mentality,” he said. “What starts [the shootings] is that it’s regular fights that would happen, but now people have guns — they just shoot. Some are local beefs, some are from out of town.”

Tisizele Scott, a Martin Luther King Center employee, community advocate and Channel Park resident, claims that there have been other shootings since last November’s incident that have not been reported. Many residents, she said, don’t feel safe. 

“There were several shootings in between,” said Scott. “It wasn’t 30 bullets or anything, but … I don’t think it’s a great concern to anyone, to tell you the truth. Since it’s affordable housing, it’s not such a great concern. There are a lot of good people who reside there. I’m not sure if [the shootings] are gang-related, all I know is that it needs to stop.”


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