Shooting takes place at the Lorenzo
Police are still searching for the man who shot a non-affiliated victim at a party at the Lorenzo apartments Friday night at approximately 11:30 p.m., according to Sgt. Gina Holmstrom of LAPD’s Newton Community Station.
On Friday night at approximately 11:37 p.m., the Dept. of Public Safety sent out a Trojan Alert warning students that there was a shooting at the Lorenzo apartments on Adams Boulevard and the gunman was still at large. Students were advised to stay away from the area.
Two shots were fired and the injured victim was in critical condition Saturday morning at California Hospital, where he underwent surgery at 2 a.m. As of Sunday afternoon, there has been no change to the victim’s condition, said Sgt. Alex Baez, from the Newton Community Station.
“The information we have now is that there might have been some sort of argument on a fourth floor patio,” said Lt. Jon Pinto of LAPD’s Newton Community station.
DPS Deputy Chief David Carlisle said a possible suspect was seen running from the location and is still at large. The large size of the complex complicated the search.
The Lorenzo apartments were locked down for approximately two hours while police swept the hallways and parking structure, according to residents.
“They didn’t let anyone in for, like, two hours,” said Lizzie Miller, a sophomore majoring in medical anthropology.
At 1:44 a.m., a Trojan Alert notified students that the area was secure.
After shots were fired, partygoers jumped off the edge of the balcony and dangled on the railing, said Lara Keifer, an undecided freshman who was at a party two floors directly above the incident.
“A bunch of people jumped off the one story railing but we thought it was a joke or something,” she said. “But then there were a bunch of helicopters, and we got the alert. We went inside, and my friends and I locked ourselves in the bedroom.”
Other students at the apartment complex, however, were not as alarmed about the shooting.
“It was targeted and not some renegade shooter at a mall looking for random victims,” said Miller. “I was a little nervous but everyone else seemed fine, though it was kind of strange that the Lorenzo didn’t warn us in any way.”
Miller and other residents could not leave the complex during the two hours the Lorenzo was on lockdown. She said one of her friends pretended his sister was in labor in order to leave.
Other students attending parties on The Row near the Lorenzo were warned of the danger through Trojan Alerts and immediately left the area.
Jenny Kjellgren, a freshman majoring in biological sciences, was at the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house when she heard the news. She ordered an Uber on her phone and went back to her dorm on campus.
“It’s so scary to think there was a shooting so close to where we were,” she said.
Following the incident, students hoped for improved security at the Lorenzo.
“Security could improve, and it would be nice if DPS came over here more,” said Dillon Morgan, a junior majoring in business administration. “It doesn’t really bother us that much, though, because we’re not in the safest area anyways.”
Low Down Lorenzo is a bad place for USC students. Stay away from these privately owned non USC buildings and stay closer to campus.
My son moved into Lorenzo in January. We had some trouble with his room assignment, so I stayed in LA for 3 days. The original plan was I would only stay for a couple of hours to sign papers, and pay for his rent. I went to Lorenzo for 3 days because his room assignment was not a good fit and it took 3 days to get a new room assignment for him. I saw first hand how easy it was to move around Lorenzo without a key. We would get into an elevator and just ask the person in the elevator to push our floor. It was never a problem to get to where we needed to go without a key. I was also concerned that there were several non-students in the building. I know because I asked them. I asked everyone I came into contact with if they were a student, because I am a nosy MOM. Most of the kids I asked were students but there were several kids that were not students, just friends of students or just living at Lorenzo because it was a nice place.
We also rented a Zip Car and when we came back, there was a car in our space. We told the security guard and he did not know that the space was reserved for a Zip Car. We told him we would call Zip Car and they would tow the car. He said he would figure it out, and a few minutes later another security guard came out and moved his car…..the security guard was parking in the Zip Car’s spot.
Security needs to change at Lorenzo and the shooting is an example of what can happen.