(Tuesday afternoon photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
As a followup to Tuesday’s gunfire at Westwood Village, which did not cause any physical injuries but did lead to lockdown/shelter-in-place precautions at three nearby schools (WSB as-it-happened coverage is here), we now have information from the initial police report filed afterward. While that first police report isn’t always the “last word” – the investigation is continuing – we thought you might be interested to hear what it says, since it adds some detail not available yesterday:
The narrative was written by a police officer who was on patrol when the call came in at 12:35 pm about “shots fired.” The first person the officer spoke with was a 34-year-old woman. She said she was in her car with a friend in the Staples parking lot on the northeast side of the shopping center, while nearby, according to the report, there was “a small group of people. While the group was talking, an unknown male started flashing gang signs at the group.”
From there, the report says, the group “started yelling” at the male, who had a female with him, and she is reported to have yelled that the male was “from the valley and they better watch out.” After more words were exchanged, the report says, “the unknown male pulled a handgun from the waist of his pants and fired two shots at the group.”
After that, everybody scattered, except the witness who spoke to police. She said the suspect and female “fled on foot northbound,” but police were unable to find them. Three other people, including 20- and 21-year-old men (we don’t have age/gender of the third) described as having been part of the group that was “yelling back,” were “detained and interviewed by the gang unit” and “subsequently released.”
The report’s narrative concludes with the note that police found “two shell casings and one misfired bullet” at the scene.
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