Long Beach addresses Thursday shooting, announces changes to beach season

Long Beach officials held a news conference Friday, announcing immediate changes to the beach season due to a shooting at the train station Thursday evening.

Officials said a large group of teenagers came to the beach after hearing of a "senior cut day" on social media. The teens came from other towns such as Elmont, Malverne, Freeport, Hempstead and Queens. Acting Police Commissioner Rich DePalma said over 2,000 people were there.

Around 6 p.m., the group was moved off the beach and headed back toward the train station. There, shots were fired, resulting in a 16-year-old male being shot. Additional shots were fired inside the station. A 15-year-old was charged with attempted assault, reckless endangerment, criminal use of a firearm, criminal possession of a loaded firearm and unlawful possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding device for the shots fired inside the station.

An investigation is still ongoing and it is unclear if the same individual fired both times. 

As a result, City Manager Dan Creighton announced changes to this year's beach season, effective immediately. The city was currently only checking beach passes on weekends, with the beach fully opening on June 27. Now, the beach season was announced as fully underway, meaning passes will be needed to access the beach each day of the week.

" No pass, no beach," Creighton said. "The beach will also be closed from dusk until dawn. Outside of our permitted events, beachgoers will be asked to leave the beach at dusk. The council will also be granting me, as the city manager, the authority to direct the police department to close the beach at any time, at my direction, for whatever reason we feel is necessary."

"This won't be a trend here Long Beach," City Council President Brendan Finn said. "Here, we honor the values of respect for our community, for our law enforcement officers and our fellow citizens. Effective immediately, the city manager will undertake a series of measures to keep our residents safe."