One person killed, 11 injured at party in Boyle Heights

Nine people were shot, one of them fatally, and three were stabbed during a melee at a Boyle Heights party early Saturday morning, according to police.

As they surveyed the aftermath, police said it was amazing there weren’t more fatalities among the 100-or-so guests who paid $10 each for live music and all the beer they could drink.

“I’ve never seen so many aggravated assaults in one scene,” said Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Anita Ortega about the fracas that broke out as the party was winding down at a house in the 1300 block of Los Palos Street. “We usually get 10 people seriously injured over a week’s period. But we got more than that in one incident. Thankfully, we only had one homicide.”

Steve Lopez, 22, of Los Angeles died at the scene. Others who were shot managed to get to one of the three hospitals in the Boyle Heights area. Ortega said that though some were seriously injured, all were expected to survive.

Various shell casings were found at the scene, suggesting that there was more than one gun and shooter, Ortega said.

One person who was at the party but did not want to give his name said he was in the back of the house when he heard about 15 gunshots. He said that at first he was too scared to come out, but when he did, he saw Lopez lying near the street.

“There was some kind of confrontation that started with a punch and ended up with shootings and stabbings,” Ortega said. “We have no suspects, but we have good leads. We have lots of witnesses, and lots of statements to take.”

hector.becerra@latimes.com

ruben.vives@latimes.com