Local News in Brief : Gangs Shoot Up House

At least 15 gang members seeking revenge for the shooting of one of their colleagues fired about 50 bullets into a Long Beach home, where a woman and her two sons escaped injury by diving to their living room floor, police said Friday.

Armed with shotguns and rifles, 15 to 20 members from two gangs blasted the house and several cars parked nearby around 11 p.m. Thursday in retaliation for a shooting Wednesday night, Long Beach Police Lt. James Reed said.

Police said the teen-age brothers in the house are members of a rival gang that was involved in the earlier shooting, which slightly wounded one gang member.

The brothers, who denied membership in any gang, said Friday that their house was targetted because they are friends with several gang members who “hang out” in the area. The youths, ages 17 and 18, said they could have been killed had their mother not shut the door only moments before the gunfire.