Long Beach residents on edge after 2 people killed in fights in 2 weeks

While police continue to search for a suspect who fatally stabbed a man at a Dave’s Hot Chicken restaurant in Long Beach Sunday morning, neighborhood residents say the problem of violence in the area has only been getting worse.

Outside the Belmont Shore restaurant, located on the corner of 2^nd Street and Covina Avenue, KTLA’s cameras captured a somber embrace between family members who lost their loved one.

A man told KTLA’s Rachel Mentioff that the victim, reportedly his 20-year-old godson, came to Dave’s Hot Chicken with a group of friends when he fell victim to the fatal stabbing, which occurred at around 12:45 a.m.

While it’s unclear if the victim knew his attacker, Long Beach police confirmed that the incident began as a fight inside the restaurant. It’s not clear, though, what the altercation was about.

Video of the aftermath obtained by KTLA depicts a chaotic scene in which customers ditched their tables of food and presumably ran to safety when the fight broke out.

“We woke up this morning to the flashing lights and found out that someone was stabbed,” Belmont Shore resident Ben Rhodes told KTLA.

Having lived in the neighborhood for 22 years, Rhodes said there seems to be an increase in fights and overall violence in the last several months between the hours of midnight and 3 a.m.

“It’s been leading up to this for quite a while, the late-night after-hours partying, over-served kids, it’s just a bad element that’s come into the shore lately,” he added.

Just a little over two weeks ago, on Feb. 17, a man was shot and killed two blocks away after a confrontation at a popular bar within the entertainment district.

A commander with the Long Beach Police Department said that since that shooting, they’ve had more officers patrolling the 15-block stretch of retail space.

“We already had an increased presence in that area. Last night, we had officers on overtime that were additional to our normal staffing out there, just for this goal, and that was part of the reason they got there so quickly, and they’ll continue to do so,” Commander Michael Richens said.

Kurt Schneiter, president of the Belmont Shore Business Association, told KTLA that waking up and learning of a person who lost their life in the community is tragic. He says the business association has invested in private security to supplement the police presence.

“We’ve had two murders in the last couple of weeks and I won’t say it’s coming from the bars,” Schneiter said. “I’m saying it’s because we’re attracting people from outside the area that are coming here and feeling they can get away with these crimes.”

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So far, authorities have been unable to identify the person responsible for Sunday’s fatal stabbing.

KTLA has also reached out to Dave’s Hot Chicken restaurant for comment and possible surveillance footage of the violent incident and has yet to hear back.

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