Weekend shooting leaves North Long Beach dead – disturbing trend continues

Early Sunday morning, August 18, a man was shot and killed in North Long Beach.

Long Beach Fire Department personnel found 43-year-old Ali Jabbar Phannix in the 600 block of E South Street with gunshot wounds to the upper body and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Homicide detectives from the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) were called to the scene to investigate.

That same night, police responded to a report of another shooting in North Long Beach, where an unoccupied vehicle had been struck by gunfire in the 5800 block of Lime Avenue.

The day before Phannix's death, a man reported to police that his car had been hit by gunfire while driving in North Long Beach. The suspect(s) fled before police arrived at the scene.

Residents who follow local news may remember numerous shootings in North Long Beach recently. Earlier this month, a 16-year-old boy was killed and his relative injured. In June, a gunman shot two other men during a dispute over a car. A mass shooting in May left seven people injured. In April, a father was killed outside his home.

Police have not released any information about possible suspects in Monday's shooting, the Aug. 4 shooting that killed a teenager, or the mass shooting in May. However, investigators believe there are unknown witnesses to those crimes and are asking them to come forward.

In April, five suspects were arrested in connection with the murder of 51-year-old Mario Morales-Moreno. Taylor Byron Woods, Tyrell Deshawn Louden, Jordan Omarion Stokes, Semaj Lamar Obrien and Jamie Tucker are all being held on $2 million bail and are due back in court on August 28.

Higher population density and poverty rates lead to more gun violence

The shootings that make the news are just a small portion of the gun violence that occurs in the 90805 zip code. According to data obtained by Long Beach police through a public records request, 1,665 people were victims of shootings in North Long Beach from January 2007 to April 2024.

The 90805 zip code has the highest number of casualties of any zip code in Long Beach during this time period. It is one of the largest zip codes in the city, covering 7.4 square miles of land and has the third highest number of casualties per capita.

The 90805 ZIP code is home to about 95,740 people, or about 13,000 people per square mile. It's the fourth-most densely populated area in Long Beach, according to censusreporter.org, a nonprofit website that compiles census data.

The 90805 zip code is closest to the 90815 zip code, which covers 7.1 miles of land and is home to 42,759 people. In comparison, 90815 is far less populated, with about 6,000 people per square mile. From 2007 to April 2024, 113 people were victims of shootings in the 90815 zip code.

According to census data, the poverty rate in zip code 90805 is 18.9%, while in 90815 it is 7.4%. The state average is 12.2%.

In May, the LBPD released a memo informing the public that the number of shootings was up from the previous year. As of April, there had already been 11 homicides citywide since the beginning of the year, compared to six by the same time in 2023.

The LBPD said it has reallocated personnel and resources to create the new High Crime Focus Team, which will work with the existing Neighborhood Safety Bike Team to provide proactive enforcement in high-crime areas. Two bike patrol officers are assigned to each LBPD division, including the North Division in North Long Beach.

The Signal-Tribune emailed the LBPD to ask which areas of North Long Beach its bike officers patrol. The LBPD would not specify where those officers patrol, saying only that their routes vary based on data.

Anyone with information about Sunday's shooting is asked to contact homicide detectives Michael Hubbard or Jesus Espinoza at (562) 570-7244. Anonymous tips can be made through LA Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477) or at www.lacrimestoppers.org.