Shooting with multiple victims reported at Torrance bowling alley

Police reported a shooting with multiple victims early Saturday at Gable House Bowl in Torrance.

A tweet shortly after midnight said: "Reports of shots fired with multiple victims down. T P D is on scene. Investigation is ongoing. Please stay away from the area."

The scene was chaotic outside the bowling alley, which is at 22501 Hawthorne Blvd. Slowly but gradually, people gathered behind the police tape were hearing that someone they knew was inside or had been killed.

Some looked through photographs trying to pick out who may have been the gunman.

One man had a wound on his back that was covered with large bandages. His white shirt was torn and bloodstained.

Jesus Perez of San Pedro was inside during the shooting. "We just ran right into the bar and took cover. All we heard was just, like two people got shot."

Perez said he heard about four gunshots.

"We heard there was a big fight before that. We just ran into the bar and we just took cover because after the fight we heard ‘pop! pop!’"

He said he took cover for about 15 minutes and a security guard escorted him out the back.

Brandon Tyre, 31, said he was inside celebrating a friend’s birthday. He was bowling when a fight broke out, then he heard gunshots. When he looked, his brother had been shot in the chest. Tyre was waiting to hear what happened to his brother, who remained inside.

Others outside the bowling alley were visibly shaken. Some men were vomiting. Women were crying, screaming and clinging together as a group.

“There was a fight and then we heard nine gunshots,” said one man who declined to give his name before walking away.

Employees of Gable House Bowl, who could not give their names because they weren’t authorize to speak to the media, said violence at the establishment is rare. They said fights have broken out before in the parking lot, often because someone was drunk. They said the business overall is calm. Families go there to have birthday parties.

Several police cars blocked Hawthorne and Sepulveda boulevards, and some were parked outside Gable House.

Family members who stood by yellow police tape around the parking lot tried to cross to see if a relative was OK. Some made phone calls only to get angry when they got no answer.

“I’m getting man, my God in heaven I’m getting mad,” one woman screamed as they continued to wait for police to provide information. More families were arriving, some in tears.