A man believed to be in his 30s was killed in a shooting at the Nickerson Gardens public housing development in Watts, authorities said. The shooting happened late Sunday night, and no suspect information was immediately available as investigators worked to piece together what led to the gunfire.
According to MyNewsLA.com, the shooting was reported at 10:22 p.m. Sunday in the 1400 block of West 114th Street at Compton Avenue. Paramedics arrived to find the man neither conscious nor breathing, and they rushed him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An LAPD spokeswoman told the outlet that investigators believed the shooting was gang related, though suspect information was not immediately available.
No Suspect Identified as Investigation Continues
Beyond the belief that the shooting was gang related, the same report notes that detectives had not released a suspect description or any arrest information as of Monday. The identity of the man killed has also not been made public.
Sunday's shooting adds to a string of violent incidents that have struck the sprawling Watts housing complex over the years. In 2017, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies shot and killed a man believed to be armed with a handgun inside Nickerson Gardens, an incident that occurred in the 1300 block of 115th Street, where a handgun was recovered at the scene, according to the Los Angeles Times. In a separate incident reported by CBS News Los Angeles, a suspect shot three people in Nickerson Gardens on a Friday night, with LAPD investigators believing that shooting happened at around 8:30 p.m.
Watts Has Seen Other Deadly Shootings This Year
Nickerson Gardens is not the only site of recent gun violence in Watts. Back in May, a separate shooting near a candlelight vigil in the neighborhood left one woman dead and another wounded, with police saying officers responded just after 2 a.m. Sunday to a shooting call at East 104th Street and Wilmington Avenue, per the Los Angeles Times. Ahead of that shooting, the Southeast patrol area, which covers Watts, had recorded eight killings compared with 17 during the same period the previous year, and citywide violent crime was down nearly 4% as of May 23 compared to the year before, the Times reported.
Citywide homicide numbers have continued trending downward through the fall. LAPD's own COMPSTAT data shows 17 homicide offenses recorded citywide during the week ending October 24, and 242 homicide offenses year-to-date in 2026 compared with 279 during the same period in 2025, a 13.3% decrease. The department notes that these statistics are preliminary and subject to further analysis and revision.
None of that broader downward trend changes what happened at Nickerson Gardens Sunday night, where a man lost his life and his family is left waiting for answers. Investigators have not said when they expect to release more information about a possible suspect or motive beyond the belief that the shooting was gang related.
