Brawl breaks out in midst of mob of youths at the Pike Outlets in Long Beach; teenager shot nearby

Police were called to the Pike Outlets in Long Beach on Saturday after a brawl broke out in the midst of a huge mob of teenagers. 

The gathering, which was a planned fight between two girls announced on social media, caught the attention of Long Beach Police Department, which led them to deploy additional officers to the area "to promote safety for all visitors and deter unlawful activity, according to a statement from the department. 

At around 5:40 p.m., officers reportedly observed a fight break out between one of the juvenile girls in the crowd and a female adult near Bay Street and Aquarium Way, according to the statement. 

Video from the scene shows dozens of people running both towards and away from the scuffle outside of the popular shopping center.

They quickly broke up the altercation and arrested both of the participants. 

"Businesses in the Pike chose to close early out of an abundance of caution," LBPD's statement said. 

Nearly an hour after the fight, officers were called to E. 1st Street and The Promenade after receiving reports of a shooting in the area. 

They arrived to find a 16-year-old male suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg. He was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition. 

Investigators are still working to determine a motive in the shooting and locate a possible suspect. 

As a result, the department has called for increased patrols in the area throughout the evening. 

On Sunday, Long Beach Police Chief issued a lengthy statement, which read in part:

"Last night, we had hundreds of juveniles come to The Pike as part of a viral social media meet up. Our officers were prepared and extremely visible throughout the downtown area. In addition to spreading available resources throughout various other parts of the city, we found it necessary to declare a Stage 2 Tactical Alert, meaning we held over our day shift officers and deployed our afternoon shift officers quickly to ensure we were able to support the group activity in downtown, as well as respond to calls for service citywide.

At one point, a fight broke out, and officers immediately intervened by running into a large crowd, taking control of the situation, and arresting both suspects involved. Shortly thereafter, a shooting occurred outside of The Pike area – again, officers were almost immediately on scene and began providing medical aid to the victim. We're actively investigating the incident and will hold the suspect responsible for their actions.

I am incredibly proud of the efforts of our officers last night, and I want to reiterate that the Long Beach Police Department will not tolerate criminal acts or violence in our community."