1 Shot in Melee Sparked by 200 Gang Members

More than 200 gang members disrupted a teen-age party at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport late Friday night, resulting in one minor gunshot injury.

The melee began at about 9:20 p.m. in a parking lot behind the Viscount Hotel, at 9750 Airport Blvd., police said.

“There was a party inside the hotel that flooded out to the rear parking lot,” said Pacific Division Sgt. Ronald Colquitt.

The fighting began when gang members were turned away from the party and refused to leave, he said.

One party-goer was shot in the right shoulder and taken to Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital.

Three shots also were fired into a passing car driven by a guest from a nearby hotel, police said.

Witnesses at a Burger King restaurant reported seeing gang members running down the street waving guns. A Burger King employee said that some customers were robbed of jewelry.

About 80 officers from the Pacific, 77th, Wilshire and West Los Angeles divisions were called to handle the disturbance, which was quelled by midnight.

Colquitt said no arrests were made.

Hotel management would not comment on the incident.

Times staff writer Nieson Himmel contributed to this story.