Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Bureau Homicide Unit had a busy New Year’s Eve investigating two murders that occurred in the Wilshire and Hollywood areas. The crimes were unrelated but both are believed to have involved gangs, said Detective Sean Kinchla.

Wilshire Division officers responded to a shots fired call at 8:45 p.m. in the 2000 block of Eighth Avenue, just south of Washington Boulevard, and found a victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The 23-year-old victim was shot after a confrontation with multiple suspects, Kinchla said.

A short time later, officers stopped a vehicle believed to be connected to the shooting and arrested one man and two juveniles. The unidentified victim was not believed to have had gang ties, but the suspects are believed to be gang members, he added. The investigation remains ongoing, and Kinchla did not have further information.

The second homicide occurred at approximately 11:10 p.m. in the 1500 block of Taft Avenue, next to the Hollywood (101) Freeway just west of Wilton Place and south of Hollywood Boulevard. The unidentified 53-year-old victim was standing in front of an apartment building where a friend lives when a car pulled up and gunshots rang out, police said. Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene. The victim lives in the neighborhood and had no connections to gangs, Kinchla added. 

The detective said gang graffiti was found in the neighborhood and it appears the murder was gang-related. That investigation also remains ongoing; Kinchla had no further details.

Anyone with information about either crime is urged to call the LAPD’s West Bureau Homicide Unit at (213)382-9470.