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UPDATED: Shooting Victim Was Not A Burglar, Say Police
by Ryan ZumMallen | Long Beach News | 07.20.10 |

UPDATE 12:35pm | Police have now released more details about the fatal shooting that occurred in North Long Beach on Monday evening.

An official statement today from the Long Beach Police Department indicates that two males may have been fleeing from an assault when they ran onto the roof of a North Long Beach home, leading to a confrontation with the homeowners and gunshots that left one of the suspects dead.

According to the Police press release, "There is no indication that the woman’s home was burglarized, or in the process of being burglarized."

According to interviews with the woman who fired the weapon and her husband, detectives are now saying that both of them armed themselves with handguns when they heard noises on their roof and saw people drop down onto their fenced-in front lawn. The noises sounded like footsteps and the couple yelled through the window, demanding that the people on the roof leave. When they dropped down from the roof to the front lawn, the couple confronted them on the lawn with handguns.

One of the suspects approached the woman, 57, and she fired two rounds into his upper torso. The victim died and is being identified only as a 25-year old resident of Long Beach.

Police also said that an assault occurred at a nearby apartment on Obispo Avenue and the two suspects may have been involved in that incident, and then ran from the location and onto the roof of the husband and wife.

Police are still trying to determine exactly what happened, and are asking any witnesses to come forward. In the meantime, both residents of the home where the shooting occurred have been released. Detectives will continue to gather evidence and then present their findings to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for a determination on the shooting.

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11:15am | Details are scarce, but a fatal shooting that occurred last in North Long Beach has some saying that a woman shot and killed a burglar attempting to enter her home.

The victim has died, according to Long Beach Police Department Sgt. Israel Ramirez. Sgt. Ramirez said that detectives are still investigating the incident and stressed that it is too early to say whether or not the victim was a burglary suspect.

The shooting occurred around 8:30pm on Monday night in the 3200 block of E. 67th Street,

A wire service report in the Press-Telegram today says that two other suspected burglars ran from the scene, and quotes a family member of the woman who says that she had been robbed before and decided to purchase a gun.

Police are expected to release more information later in the day.
http://www.lbpost.com/ryan/10165