At least 5 people shot at San Pedro beach

At least five people were injured in a shooting Saturday night at a San Pedro beach, authorities said.

Police received a call at 5:44 p.m. reporting gunfire at Royal Palms Beach near Paseo del Mar and Graysby Avenue, said Lt. Sharon Brady with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Community Police Station.

Brady said four people who had been shot were taken to local hospitals by emergency personnel.

Just before 7 p.m., she learned about a fifth person who was injured and taken to a hospital by a friend.

“We have some in critical condition, some stable and some serious,” Brady said.

No suspects had been taken into custody as of Saturday evening.

Warren Moore, an LAPD spokesman, said a suspect fled the scene in a gray sedan, driving along Paseo del Mar. Moore said the suspect has been described as a man in his 20s with a buzz haircut, wearing all black, including a black mask, and is believed to have fired a semiautomatic handgun.

The area was an “active crime scene,” Moore said just before 7:30 p.m.

In a joint statement, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn and L.A. City Councilman Tim McOsker said they were “outraged and saddened by the shooting at Royal Palms Beach in San Pedro.”

“It’s tragically ironic that today we hosted a gun buy-back event just a few miles away from this location. Gun violence is wreaking havoc on our community.”

Earlier Saturday, Hahn’s office, in partnership with the LAPD, hosted the buy-back event in nearby Wilmington, offering gift cards for firearms. At least 45 guns were exchanged, including at least four assault weapons, Hahn said on Twitter.

Royal Palms Beach will be closed Sunday as the shooting remains under investigation, Hahn and McOsker said in the statement.

The beach, they added, will be closed “earlier on weekends as we work on plans together to ensure safety and peaceful community use.”