Two killed, one injured in shooting at Venice park
A gunman calmly shot three people, two of them fatally, as a woman fled with a small child in her arms and others scrambled for safety Wednesday afternoon at a Venice park, according to police and an eyewitness.
The shooting forced authorities to lock down a recreation center filled with small children at Penmar park, which sits in a quiet neighborhood lined with single-family homes and shady trees in the 1300 block of East Lake Street.
An assistant softball coach arrived at the park shortly after 4 p.m. with her softball team.
Interactive databases: Track homicide, crime in Venice
“I heard popping sounds,” the witness told The Times, “and I saw a guy standing and shooting a gun.”
The witness said the attacker jumped into a car, perhaps a silver Volkswagen station wagon, in which a driver was waiting and fled.
A baseball coach gave CPR to a victim sprawled on the grass between the recreation center and a baseball diamond, the witness said. A second bystander administered CPR to a man lying in the bleachers.
The children in the recreation center, the oldest of whom were in third grade, were reunited with their parents at the center, said Los Angeles Police Lt. Jeff Bert.
Bert said investigators believe the shooting was gang-related. Officers found several shell casings in the area.
The third victim, police said, was shot in the leg and was being treated at a hospital. The two dead men were believed to be between 18 and 20 years old, police said.
One of the victims was pronounced dead at the park. The other died at a nearby hospital.
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