LONG BEACH, Calif.—A 30-year-old man was found fatally shot inside a vehicle next to his son on Father’s Day.
Leevi Matuni Maseuli of Palmdale was found with a gunshot wound to his upper body sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, next to his 7-year-old son who was in the passenger’s seat at 8:45 p.m. June 20 at the intersection of Anaheim Street and Roswell Avenue, Long Beach Police Department Lt. Dominick Scaccia said.
Officers rendered aid to Maseuli until paramedics arrived and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Scaccia said.
Maseuli’s son was also taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but the boy was not struck by gunfire, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
A motive for the shooting was not known, Scaccia said. Homicide detectives were investigating.
“To commit such a heinous crime in any circumstance is unacceptable, but to do so on Father’s Day in front of the victim’s child is even more disgraceful,” Long Beach Police Chief Wally Hebeish said. “This blatant disregard for our community will not go unanswered and our investigators are working diligently to identify anyone involved in the victim’s death.
“No child should ever have to endure an experience like this and I am asking the public to please speak up with any information, no matter how small, that could help us find those responsible for this callous act of violence.”
