Three people were shot dead Saturday and four others injured at a luxury home near Beverly Hills, at what US police described as a gathering at a short-term rental property.
Emergency services rushed to the swanky address in the Benedict Canyon area of Los Angeles overnight, where they found three people dead in a vehicle parked outside.
Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Frank Preciado told the Associated Press that the incident took place just after 2:30 a.m. outside a home in Beverly Crest, an upscale neighborhood in L.A. near Beverly Hills. The three people killed, he said, were in a vehicle, while the four who were injured were standing outside.
Four others were being treated in hospital Saturday, two of them for critical injuries.
The incident, which came on the heels of two mass shootings in California that claimed 18 lives, happened in an area nestled between Beverly Hills and Bel Air, where multi-million dollar homes with lush landscaping enjoy stunning views of the Los Angeles skyline.
Detectives investigating the attack say it happened at a “short term rental home,” The Los Angeles Times reported.
Homes close to the scene of the shooting — which were not involved — were shown as available on AirBnB at up to $10,000 for a weekend.
The property at which the shooting took place was not listed on the site.
Police said there was some kind of gathering at the location.
“We called it a gathering, until we can interview some of the people that were here to determine exactly what kind of gathering it was,” Los Angeles Police Department’s Bruce Borihanh told reporters.
“Investigators are also going door to door and looking for additional surveillance video, or any evidence that can help us determine what happened here and why these victims were shot.”
This is the sixth mass shooting in California so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Beverly Crest is about 20 miles from Monterey Park, where 11 people were killed on Jan. 21. Rep. Adam Schiff, who represents California's 30th congressional district, which is near Beverly Crest, addressed the string of violence on Twitter.
"Terrible news of the fourth mass shooting in California in a week. We cannot live this way. Literally we cannot," he wrote. "I will never accept such senseless, horrific violence in our society. We must act. Thinking and praying for the victims and their families."
