Photo Courtesy of Inglewood Police/ Facebook
On Jan. 23, four people were killed, and one was injured during an ambush shooting at a birthday party in Inglewood, Calif.
Authorities said that the shooting occurred at a house on the 1300 block of Park Avenue around 1:30 a.m. Victims Breahna Stines, 20, and her sister Marneysha Hamilton, 25, celebrated Stine’s birthday with several guests at the house when they were gunned down. Police reportedly found shell casings from an assault rifle at the scene where multiple suspects opened fire.
The other two slain victims were Jayden Griffin, 21, and Teron Whittiker Jr., 21. Stines, Hamilton, and Whittaker died at the crime scene while Griffin passed away as an ambulance rushed him to UCLA Ronald Reagan Hospital. The fifth victim had not been identified but was reportedly in critical condition.
Neighbors told news outlets that they heard numerous gunshots at the home where the birthday party took place. One of them, who chose to go by the name Matthew, 18, said he heard over 100 shots ring off in the driveway next door. He reportedly got down on the floor and shouted for his mother and 16-year-old sister to follow suit.
“Out of nowhere, you just hear shots being fired. It was more than a 100. Way more than a 100,” Matthew told ABC7. “It sounded like a very big gun. It sounded like multiple guns.”
Matthew also said that he had lived next to the home for 14 years, so he was surprised that the shooting happened in his community recently.
“I moved here in like 2008. Inglewood was a lot more active, gang-wise. It calmed down a lot, so for this to happen, it was a surprise, especially next door.”
He added that the property had been rented out through Airbnb for the past two years.
Police said that the surviving victim of the birthday party ambush was a gang-affiliated resident of another city. Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts confirmed this at a press conference.
“This information along with the targeted nature of this crime, the weapons used, and statements uttered before the shooting by the suspects indicated this crime was indeed gang-related,” he said.
Butts also said the tragic incident had the most significant number of shooting victims in one crime since the 90s.
“This is the largest number of shooting victims that have been injured in this city since the 1990s. When I think about this and hear a crime like this anywhere in New York, in Los Angeles, in Santa Monica, in Culver City, these are sociopathic killers that have to be sequestered from society,” he told
reporters. “Turn yourselves in. We will find you, and we will prosecute you.”On Sunday evening, a group of people, including family members of the victims, held a memorial with candles and balloons.
Stines and Hamilton’s mother, Tiffney, described her daughters as “outgoing, beautiful girls,” reported the Los Angeles Times.
The suspects have not been identified yet.