Two men are dead after a gunfight with Long Beach police early Saturday, and the only thing certain is that the usual crowd will somehow twist this into an argument for disarming the people who had nothing to do with it.
According to the Long Beach Police Department, officers responded to reports of gunshots on the 3700 block of Gardenia Avenue around 1:41 a.m. A caller reported hearing two shots from a nearby home. When officers arrived, a man inside the residence threatened to shoot them. The officers retreated and called for backup—then the man opened fire. One officer returned fire.
A SWAT team eventually entered the home and found two men dead from gunshot wounds to the upper body. Multiple guns were recovered from the residence. Police say it remains unclear whether either man was shot by the officer or whether any of the wounds were self-inflicted. No officers were harmed.
CBS News reported that officers were equipped with body-worn cameras and that LBPD is reviewing the footage, with plans to release it to the public. That footage will tell the story—or at least it should, if the department follows through. The public has a right to see what happened, not just take official word for it.
What you won't hear from the usual voices is the obvious: a man with multiple guns in a home chose to fire on police, and two people ended up dead. The same progressives who spent years demonizing law enforcement and hollowing out police budgets will now pivot seamlessly to demanding more gun control—targeting the Americans who follow the law, not the ones who shoot at cops.
This is the pattern. Defund the police, erode the consequences for disorder, and then act bewildered when violence fills the gap. The people who live in these neighborhoods pay the price while the activists move on to the next fundraising campaign.
The investigation is ongoing. The body camera footage is pending release. The two dead men have not yet been identified.
The open question: will Long Beach officials release the full footage and give the public the facts—or will this get buried until the next cycle?
