A teenage boy with gang ties was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of killing a 26-year-old man who was gunned down on a Long Beach street.
The shooting occurred around 9:40 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Gundry Avenue and 14th Street, said Long Beach police Lt. Mark Coble.
Jeffrey Keo of Long Beach died about two hours later at a hospital, police said.
Several people were detained and taken to police headquarters, including the 17-year-old alleged gunman, who was arrested after being interviewed.
The Long Beach resident was booked for murder and a gang enhancement, but his name was not released because he is a juvenile.
Officers during their initial investigation saw someone they believed was the suspect in the area of Walnut Avenue and 10th Street and thought — erroneously, as it turned out — they had him confined within a perimeter in a residential area bounded by 10th and 11 streets, and Walnut and Hoffman avenues. The SWAT search ended around 6 this morning.
The victim’s father, Pich Keo, questioned why anyone would attack his son, who was not a gang member.
“Why him? Why? Why? Why?,” he asked. “As a father, it really hurts. It really hurts a lot.”
He said his son worked in the communications and satellite industry in Long Beach, where he recently moved after working in the Bay Area, and didn’t have any known enemies.
—City News Service