Four people were shot Thursday night at a South L.A. community program meant to prevent gang violence, police said, marking the second shooting at a Summer Night Lights event in a week.
The shooting in Vermont Vista appears to be gang related, police said.
Officers monitoring the Summer Night Lights event at the Algin Sutton Recreation Center in the 8800 block of South Hoover Street put out a call for help after shots were fired around 11 p.m., said Melissa Podany, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Paramedics responded and brought three victims to a hospital. A fourth victim went to a hospital on their own.
Three of the victims — a 51-year-old woman and two men whose ages were unavailable — were stable, police said. The fourth, a 23-year-old man, was in critical condition.
The suspect, whom police did not describe, fled in an unknown vehicle. No arrests have been made.
Summer Night Lights, launched in 2008, aims to create safe environments in neighborhoods harmed by violence, providing free food, sports and activities to community members. This year, 44 events are being hosted throughout the city of Los Angeles, from 7 to 11 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
On July 27, a week before the Vermont Vista shooting, a volunteer at a Summer Night Lights event at the Wilmington Recreation Center was shot and killed. Jose Refugio Quezada, 46, was barbecuing when someone opened fire, striking him.
“This community leader lost his life to the very type of violence he was working so hard to prevent,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement after the slaying. The shooting “is a tragic reminder that we must fight even harder to ensure that our communities have the tools that they need to stop this senseless violence.”
Cari Spencer
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