Disagreement over neighborhood basketball game turns deadly
A neighborhood basketball game in Hawthorne descended into a deadly dispute on Sunday morning.
One person was killed and another wounded after a shooting broke out following a disagreement over the game, authorities said.
Just before 11:30 a.m., the Hawthorne Police Department received a call about a shooting in the 2000 block of 120th Street, the site of Holly Park. They found two men suffering from gunshot wounds in a parking lot. Both victims were taken to a hospital, where one died, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which is assisting Hawthorne police.
All three drivers failed to stop, render aid and remain at the scene, which is required by law, police said. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.
During an investigation, authorities learned that a group of adults had organized the game, and after a quarrel broke out over it, one group left the site and later returned in a vehicle and began firing at the other group, the Sheriff’s Department said.
A group of onlookers took off running through the park. The shooters, according to deputies, drove ahead, cut them off and began shooting at them near 120th Street and Daleside Avenue. No one was injured during the second round of shooting. The shooters fled in a white car.
No arrests had been made as of Sunday evening, Deputy Tracy Koerner said. The Sheriff’s Department said anyone with information could contact the department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.
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