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15th St. and Orizaba Ave. Two males in a backyard watching a TV Monday night football game were shot at 8:05 p.m. Police think the shooter fired from an alley behind the home. The victims were taken to the hospital by paramedics and were in stable condition and expected to survive. Police said they didn’t have any description of a suspect. Unknown whether the shooting was gang or football related.

Parkview Village. At midnight, in the parking lot behind the post office, a Nextdoor poster awakened to a “loud speaker or megaphone exclaiming, ‘helter skelter’ and ‘move’ and a large group of men gathering in a circle. They met briefly, then scattered. It looked like some of them had poles of some type and signs in their hands. I couldn’t see clearly from my window though. It was very startling!” Not the stuff bad dreams are made of. “Before I could get myself to the phone, they were gone.”

Possible motives were advanced around the 1969 murders of Sharon Tate and others by Charles Manson’s followers. “Charles Manson died Nov. 19, 2017,” said a poster. “That may have been some sort of anniversary gathering. Creepy for sure.” Others suggested fraternity pledge activity. No cameras or production equipment was seen, negating ideas of a movie shoot.

4700 block of Pacific Coast Hwy. At 1 a.m., a beauty supply store near the Traffic Circle was burglarized, broken glass at the front door. “The suspects were described as two adult males who fled the scene in a dark-colored vehicle,” said police.

Tracked to a home, at Daisy Avenue near Burnett Street, police set up a perimeter and called in a helicopter. Stolen merchandise from the store was in the home’s backyard, but the suspects were gone. Officers checked on similar beauty supply stores in the city to find if they had been targeted. Police served a search warrant at the home later in the morning, finding more burglary evidence, but continue searching for suspects.

Chestnut Ave. and 14th St. Shots were fired at 9:30 p.m. Police located bullet casings in the street, but could not locate any victims or suspects. Police think the gunman fired a handgun at a truck driving away.

1900 block of Lemon Ave. A man arrived at a hospital, saying he was stabbed while walking near Martin Luther King Jr. Park at 12:50 a.m. Police arrived to find out what happened to the man with wounds to his lower torso that didn’t appear to be life-threatening. He told them he was approached by someone he didn’t know or why he attacked. Police went to the area where the incident occurred and could not locate a crime scene, nor did they locate the suspect.

Cherry Ave. south of Carson St. A man in a parked vehicle began throwing rocks at passersby at 6:55 p.m. With reports of knives inside the vehicle, police surrounded him and called in a K-9 and SWAT officers. They arrested Gustavo Chevarria, took him to a hospital and booked him on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, harming a K-9, resisting an officer and an outstanding warrant.

Alamitos Ave. and 10th St. Three men and two women in an alley were shot in the legs or feet at around 10 p.m. One victim took himself to the hospital, the rest by paramedics. All five victims are expected to survive their injuries, but the who and why of the shooting remain a mystery, except for a gray or silver minivan used by the shooter.

Santa Fe Ave. and Columbia St. A shooting during a street argument between two groups wounded a man outside a barber shop and hit another at Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken, both in the lower extremities at 5:45 p.m. Police think there are gang connections to the shooter, not to the victims. Witnesses did not agree what the shooter looked like.

Atlantic Ave. and South St. From 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., a police DUI checkpoint yielded five arrests for driving under the influence, seven drivers for being unlicensed, four for operating a vehicle with a suspended or a revoked license and one for unsafe driving. There was an arrest on suspicion of possessing a firearm, another on suspicion of possessing drugs. Pretty much a rogue’s gallery of what not to do while behind the wheel.

Magnolia Ave. and 15th St. At 10:55 p.m., police found a 36-year-old Jaime Ruiz with gunshot wounds to his upper body. At the hospital, Ruiz died of his injuries. Police said Ruiz and two other victims were outside a home when a man approached. The men spoke, the suspect opened fire on all three victims, who of whom were not injured. Police are investigating the incident as gang related.

steve@beachcomber.news