Crime & Safety

Update: Burglar Shoots at Resident This Morning

Gunman police described as a cat burglar shot at the resident, who called 9-1-1 to report it. Police late Tuesday afternoon said they are still investigating and there would be no suspect description.

Updated at 5 p.m. with neighbor reaction, Neighborhood Watch alert. Updated at 6 p.m. with police saying there won't be a suspect description tonight.:

A Belmont Shore resident discovered a gunman, who fired at him then fled, in his Santa Ana Avenue home this morning, the Long Beach police department said. The 9-1-1 call came in at 8:35 a.m., about the time numerous students are walking or bicycling to Rogers Middle and Lowell Elementary schools a few blocks away.

"At approximately 8:35 we received a 9-1-1 call regarding a cat burglary at a
residence in the 300 block of Santa Ana," said police department spokeswoman Nancy Pratt. It was classified as a cat burglary because a person was in a house at the same time as the intruder, Pratt said.

Find out what's happening in Belmont Shore-Napleswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Units responded and made contact with the male adult victim," Pratt said in a short e-mail. "A perimeter was established. With the assistance of K-9, the residence was searched and cleared with no suspect(s) found. The area was also searched and no suspect(s) were located.

"The victim stated he was home alone when he discovered an armed male suspect in his residence. Before the suspect fled, he fired at the victim. The victim then called 9-1-1. The victim was not struck and no other injuries were sustained. [The] investigation is ongoing."

Find out what's happening in Belmont Shore-Napleswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

By 8:50 a.m., about four black-and-whites were seen parked on Appian Way near the house as a police chopper circled overhead. The wide street runs parallel to the Marine Stadium and homes on both sides of the street. It runs parallel to Vista, where you can see many schoolchildren on bicycles, as well as parents walking with young ones and pushing strollers.

Two nearby residents told Patch that they'd been told that the man's wife came home and found the front door open, and she called police rather than entering alone. Officers could be seen measuring distances and marking off areas with yellow police tape.

A woman who had been pruning front yard plants at the time of the incident said Tuesday that she was unnerved, and had also heard third-hand that three men might have been involved.

"People were walking by with their kids and dogs at the time," said the mother, who was not home alone, but did not want her name used since the suspect  apparently remains free. "I was here gardening and going in and out of the shed at the back (near the alley)."

Anyone who may have information relating to this incident should contact the Long Beach Police Department's Robbery Detail at 570-7464. Anonymous tips may be submitted via text or
web at www.tipsoft.com

Pratt said Tuesday morning that she was still trying to get a suspect description so residents can keep a lookout for the armed intruder. Patch will provide it as soon as it is delivered.

The Belmont Park area's Neighborhood Watch network sent out an e-mail alert with Patch's story at 1:55 p.m. about "the burglary-shooting incident."


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