Authorities say three teenagers were injured in a shooting in Dockweiler Beach on Friday night that occurred during a spring break party promoted on TikTok that drew hundreds of revelers to shore. sea.
Officer J. Chavez of the Los Angeles Police Department said officers were at the 11400 Vista Del Mar block in Playa del Rey after reports of a large crowd and gunfire around 8 p.m. . Chavez said when authorities arrived, they identified two men who fired multiple pistol shots, injuring two teenage girls and a teenage boy.
Chavez said the teenagers were taken to hospital and are stable. Police did not provide the ages of the teenagers nor confirm whether the teenagers attended the beach party.
Collect, Dubbed the Springbreak Takeover, promoted on TikTok starting late March and kicking off at Tower 56 in Dockweiler Beach around 4 p.m. Friday. The flyer for the event asked attendees to “leave the doctor at home.” A purported TikTok video from the event shows a crowd of teenagers gathering on a lawn near the beach with police car lights flashing in the distance.
The number of people in attendance is unclear, but authorities suspect there were more than 1,000 people on the beach.
Officials from multiple law enforcement agencies showed up to try to disperse the crowd. As the group left the beach, they began flooding the streets of El Segundo, El Segundo police said. Russell Patton.
“This has caused a series of disturbances in our streets and we have had to do a lot to keep the peace and ask for mutual assistance to prevent them from disrupting our people,” he said. .
About 100 people crammed into a 7-Eleven store on Imperial Highway and stole candy and other snacks, according to police and the store manager, who declined to give his name to The Times. Patton said a group also allegedly assaulted an employee at a donut shop in the city, but the employee did not want authorities to pursue the case.
The police did not make any arrests.
“We’ve received a few crime reports and are trying to keep the peace as best we can,” Patton said.
This isn’t the first time a viral TikTok event has prompted a major response from police in Southern California.
In May 2021, Nearly 150 people were arrested in Huntington Beach after a TikTok video of a man inviting people to his birthday party went viral and the city was filled with bohemian playboys.
