3 dead, 9 injured in shooting during party at Long Beach home

Three people were killed and nine others were injured Tuesday night when gunfire erupted at a party at a home in Long Beach.

Police and fire officials were called to a duplex behind a nail salon on 7th Street near Temple Avenue around 10:44 p.m. and came across what authorities described as a mass casualty incident. Long Beach fire spokesman Jake Heflin said firefighters arrived to “a scene obviously filled with chaos.”

At a news conference Wednesday morning, authorities said that they are still searching for at least one male suspect who fled from the scene after the shooting and that they did not have evidence that the shooting was a gang-involved incident. A description of the suspect was not immediately available.

“Today is a very tragic and horrific day in the city of Long Beach,” Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said. “This was a senseless act of gun violence.”

When officers arrived at the home, they found victims inside and outside the residence. Some of the partygoers were dressed in costume for Halloween, said Long Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer De Prez.

Three men were killed in the shooting. Two men and seven women were hurt, and their conditions were not immediately available. Those who were injured range in age from 20 to 49, De Prez said.

Police said there might be additional victims who took themselves to the hospital. It is not clear how many people were at the home when shots rang out or what led to the gunfire.

Richard Villalobos, 41, who doesn’t live far from the shooting, said he heard numerous gunshots and, less than 10 minutes later, police sirens.

Some residents said they heard up to 20 shots. Oswaldo Morales, 47, said he was in the area when he heard what sounded like several rounds of gunfire — as many as 17 shots.

Then “silence, you didn’t hear a thing,” he said.

Morales said minutes later he heard fire and police vehicles passing through.

Times staff writer Colleen Shalby contributed to this report.