A shooting was reportedly reported in Los Angeles's Leimert Park neighborhood on October 27 while a Black LA Votes Party meeting was underway, sending a jolt through an event that organizers say was never actually targeted. Attendees, including former LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, were unharmed, but what exactly happened down the block remains murky, with different outlets offering conflicting details about who was hurt and how badly.
According to Hindustan Times, organizers were quick to clarify that the gunfire did not occur at their gathering. “A shooting occurred down the street, NOT at our event. Everyone at our gathering remained safe, and no attendees were injured,” the group said, according to the outlet's report. Villanueva, who attended the meeting, said he called 911 after shots were heard nearby, and that he was placed on hold for several minutes before getting through, according to FOX 11 Los Angeles.
Conflicting Accounts of Who Was Shot
Villanueva reportedly said attendees were unharmed but that two people nearby were reportedly injured in the shooting, per the Hindustan Times report. That account, however, does not match other versions circulating in the aftermath. An independent local news page reportedly told the outlet that LAPD was investigating a shooting in the 4300 block of Degnan Boulevard, where a man approximately 60 years old was shot in the shoulder and transported to a hospital.
A separate account, from the Citizen App, reportedly placed the incident at 4325 Degnan Boulevard and described a man shot in the arm rather than the shoulder. As of publication, the article notes that the Los Angeles Police Department had not publicly commented on the shooting, leaving the number of victims, their exact condition, and the precise location unconfirmed.
A Chaotic Evening Across Leimert Park
Separately, on October 17, Los Angeles police issued a citywide tactical alert after an unruly crowd of up to 200 people moved through downtown streets, according to CBS News Los Angeles. Video showed the crowd scattering and running through a McDonald's parking lot in Leimert Park at around 6:40 p.m. on October 17, the station reported.
CBS News Los Angeles also reported two separate stabbings in the broader area on October 17 — one near the Taste of Soul event around 2:45 p.m. close to Crenshaw Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, after which several people were taken to nearby hospitals, and a second around 6:10 p.m. in the 4200 block of South Crenshaw Boulevard, with one person taken to a hospital.
The tactical alert was deactivated at 8:30 p.m. on October 17, and no arrests connected to the crowd had been reported, per the same account. For now, the full chronology of the evening — including exactly when the shooting near the Black LA Votes Party meeting occurred — has not been established, and LAPD has yet to issue a public statement addressing any of the reported incidents.
