A man was shot and killed in a parking lot next to the Santa Monica Pier at about 12:30 a.m. on Monday, according to ABC7. The Santa Monica Police Department is investigating.
What police have said
The man was an adult. He has not been publicly identified, which normally means his family has not yet been notified.
No arrest has been announced and no suspect description has been released. Police have not offered a motive or described what preceded the shooting.
That is the extent of what has been established, and it is worth being explicit about the gaps rather than filling them. The Herald does not know whether the people involved knew each other, whether this began as a dispute or a robbery, or whether anyone else was present.
The location
The pier is among the most visited places in Los Angeles County, and the parking lots beside it are busy well past midnight in July.
It is worth resisting the easy inference. A shooting in a parking lot at half past midnight is not by itself evidence about the safety of a destination that draws millions of people a year, and neither the police department nor the city has offered any characterization of the pier's safety in connection with this case. If they do, we will report it.
What happens next
Santa Monica police will release the man's identity through the county medical examiner once relatives have been notified. Any arrest, suspect description or account of a motive will come from the department.
This is a developing story assembled within hours of the shooting from local reporting, and the details are subject to revision. The Herald will update it as the department releases more.
