LAPD Investigates Tragic Incident at Event Organized by LAPD Pacific Area Boosters
By Dolores Quintana
Tragedy struck at the first annual Palms Community Weekend Summer Festival when a 16-year-old was fatally stabbed on Saturday night. The event was organized by the LAPD Pacific Area Boosters.
The stabbing occurred around 10:25 p.m. at the intersection of Keystone and Venice. According to an LAPD spokesperson, the 16-year-old victim became engaged in a fight with multiple people, and a suspect, who was estimated to be between 15 and 20 years of age, stabbed the victim multiple times.
The suspect fled on foot. Los Angeles Fire Department responded and confirmed that the victim was dead at the scene. The LAPD spokesman added that the police believe that the stabbing was gang-related. No other information about the deceased victim or the suspect has yet been released. It is believed that the suspect is still at large.
The event was scheduled to take place from Friday, June 21, through Sunday, June 23, and closed off traffic on Venice Boulevard between Overland Avenue and Motor Avenue with little to no community notice. As of 1:00 p.m., vendors and other workers were setting up and testing rides and a vendor on the carnival grounds confirmed that the last day of the Carnival was going ahead as planned despite the murder.
CD 5 Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky issued a press statement via email that said, “Our entire community is shaken by the news of last night’s horrific violence. My thoughts go out to the victim’s family and friends, as they navigate this devastating loss.
My team and I are in regular communication with LAPD leadership and have offered my office’s full support as they investigate this heinous act and bring the individual responsible to justice.”
According to the event organizer’s website, “The Pacific Area Boosters Association is an organization of business professionals and community members who support the LAPD Pacific Area. Incorporated in 1973 as a 501(C)3 non-profit organization, the Boosters raise funds to support the LAPD Pacific Area Cadet & Junior Cadet Programs, the Police Officers, and the Police Station. The Boosters also elicit community involvement in the continual campaign against crime.”
