3 Men Shot to Death in Long Beach; Police Seek Suspects, Motive

Three people were killed late Thursday morning in a “walk-up” shooting in a residential Long Beach neighborhood.

Authorities said the killings occurred at a house in the 1800 block of Cedar Avenue, between 19th Street and Pacific Coast Highway on the city’s west side.

Two of the victims died outside the home; the third was pronounced dead at Long Beach Memorial Hospital Medical Center.

“My man is dead,” sobbed 23-year-old Kenya Edwards, who said she lived with one of the slain men. Saying that she had just come from Memorial Hospital, Edwards identified the man as Ivan Johnson, 26. She said she and Johnson had two children, ages 4 and 5.

Police would not confirm the identity of any of the victims and said they knew of no motive for the violence.

Edwards said that when she arrived at Memorial Hospital, Johnson was already dead. She had no explanation for the shooting, saying only that Johnson “was visiting someone.”

“My man is dead,” Edwards repeated, her voice cracking with emotion. “It is hurting me bad.” Moments later, Edwards burst into tears and was led away from a police barricade by friends.

Police arrived at the scene minutes after the 11:26 a.m. shooting. Witnesses told police they saw two or three men running from the location.

“We have a lot of witnesses out here,” said Long Beach Police Officer Jana Blair.

Officers found evidence apparently left by the fleeing men and brought in the Police Department’s bloodhound, hoping he would pick up a scent and track the gunmen.

The dog followed a scent south to Pacific Coast Highway and then east to Pacific, leading officers, with guns drawn, to a hamburger stand and then a motel on Pacific Avenue. But the dramatic search did not turn up the suspects.

Gustavo Ybarra, who lives close by, said he heard shots and then saw men covered with blood come out of the Cedar Avenue house and collapse.

Telling reporters he had just come home from work, Ybarra said, “I was going up the stairs when I heard gunshots. I heard like three gunshots.”

When he turned around, Ybarra said, he saw an older man, covered with blood, running toward Cedar and 19th Street.

“He didn’t make it to the corner. He just fell down dead,” Ybarra said. “Ten seconds later, I heard more gunshots and another guy that was inside the house rolled down the stairs and fell down with the door open.”

“It was scary,” said Ybarra, who added that he did not see any of the gunmen.

Blair said “gunfire erupted either inside or outside” the Cedar Avenue house.

“From some of the witnesses’ accounts, we believe a disturbance erupted inside the residence,” Blair said. “All three of the victims may have been inside the residence.”

The neighborhood is a blend of single-family homes and low-income apartments. Police have a community crime-fighting unit stationed in a storefront two blocks from the shooting scene.

Neighborhood Watch signs are posted in the area, which residents say has been plagued in recent years by drug dealing and prostitution.