L.B. man in a coma after North Park shooting

Christina Daly/Herald

Christina Daly/Herald

A number of residents said they are on edge after a barrage of gunfire rang out on East Pine Street early Friday morning, just two days after a Long Beach man was shot and rushed to a local hospital, where he is currently in a medically induced coma.

Police responded to Wednesday’s incident shortly after 11:30 p.m. along the 100 block of East Pine Street — between Riverside and Long Beach boulevards — in less than two minutes, officials said. When officers arrived to the scene they were alerted by a crowd that a man had been shot.

Officers observed the man, 26-year-old Philoman Smith, of East Pine Street, writhing on the sidewalk and bleeding. Smith was transported to South Nassau Communities Hospital by a Long Beach Fire Department ambulance with a gunshot wound.

While searching the victim for wounds, police said they recovered a 9mm Taurus automatic firearm that was “defaced” from inside the man’s pants — with a fully loaded magazine. Smith was charged with criminal possession of a weapon.

Tangney said that police have yet to speak to the victim because he is undergoing treatment at South Nassau, where he remains in a coma. Smith’s relatives could not immediately be reached for comment. Police also said that witnesses did not come forward at the scene or as police canvassed the area for information about the shooting.

The gunfire was detected by the recently installed ShotSpotter system, which can detect and record shootings throughout the city, police officials said.

“Because of the ShotSpotter system, our response time was less than two minutes and we took another gun off the street,” said Lt. Mark Stark, a spokesman for the department.

Approximately seven shots were also fired at 1:56 a.m. in the same area on Friday, Tangney said. One police officer was in the vicinity and rushed to the scene after hearing the shots, which were also detected by ShotSpotter.

“Police were on the scene very quickly,” Tangney said. “There was video surveillance in the area that we are checking as we speak.”