Two arrested in brawl at California shopping center after planned meetup goes viral
Two females were arrested and a Southern California shopping center closed early Saturday after a brawl broke out at the site of a planned social media meetup.
The fight took place at The Pike Outlets, a Long Beach shopping center known by locals as The Pike, Long Beach Police Chief Wally Hebeish wrote in a statement Sunday.
Shortly after the fight, a shooting left one person injured, police said. Multiple local outlets reported a boy suffered a gunshot wound to his lower body and was taken to a local hospital. His condition was listed as stable, reports said. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was connected to the brawl.
OC Hawk, which follows breaking news in Orange and surrounding counties, captured footage of the brawl. In one video, a large group of people follows a female who walks up to another individual and hits her. More people begin hitting each other as police rush through the crowd, attempting to break up the fights. In another shot, the two females from the initial fight are handcuffed, footage from OC Hawk shows.
The crowd was so large that the outlet had to shut down early, Los Angeles meida outlets including KTLA and ABC7 reported. The shopping center closed at about 6 p.m. Saturday and police announced that anyone who didn’t cooperate and leave would be arrested.
Police anticipated gathering that started on social media
Long Beach police knew about the planned gathering, according to a Facebook post about the meetup on Saturday. Police asked people to report any suspicious activity in the area ahead of time.
“We are aware of a large group gathering planned for this afternoon in The Pike,” police wrote on Saturday. “We have increased our presence in the area. Criminal activity will not be tolerated.”
Police prepared for the planned fight by bringing a bus to the area in case multiple juveniles needed to be taken into custody, KTLA reported.
Chief Hebeish said in a statement Sunday that it was a “group disturbance” and a viral social media meet up.”
“We held over our day shift officers and deployed our afternoon shift officers quickly to ensure we were able to support the group activity in downtown, as well as respond to calls for service citywide,” he said in the statement.
Shortly after the fight, a shooting happened outside of The Pike area, the chief said. Officers got to the scene immediately and tried to help the victim.
“We’re actively investigating the incident and will hold the suspect responsible for their actions,” Hebeish said in a statement Sunday. “I am incredibly proud of the efforts of our officers last night, and I want to reiterate that the Long Beach Police Department will not tolerate criminal acts or violence in our community.”
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at@SaleenMartin or email her at[email protected].