Young father shot to death outside of house in Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- An 18-year-old father died after being shot in the chest outside of a home in Long Beach early Tuesday morning.

Police said a call came in shortly after 2 a.m. regarding shots fired in the 600 block of E. 9th Street. When authorities arrived, they found the young man dead from a gunshot wound. The teen was identified as Manny Arechiga.

Arechiga was a young father and had dropped out of high school recently to care for his new son. He called his mother over the weekend and told her how happy he was that he had a new job so he could buy clothes for his little boy.

He also saw his father over the weekend.

"He gave me a hug and he told me, I love you Dad," said Manuel Arechiga.

Lettie Calderon, who resides in the neighborhood, said Manny had been her daughter's friend. His body was found in the front yard of her home.

She also said a few weeks ago, Manny's car broke down so she was trying to help him out. Calderon said she wanted to get him to re-enroll in high school.

Residents in the neighborhood said there's been an uptick in violence and living in the area has been difficult.

Calderon said her husband was stabbed to death in the neighborhood a few weeks ago.

The Mosleys have also watched the violence creep into the fabric of their day-to-day lives. Marsha Mosley said her son heard the shooting.

"My son saw a black SUV speeding off with no lights on. He said, well that could've been the person who did it," Mosley said.

Vivian Mosley said her brother had woken them up. They ran outside and found Manny just before officers pulled up.

Calderon said she ran to get Manny's mother after hearing about his death. Because Manny was found in front of Calderon's home, authorities questioned all four of her children, who were in the house at the time.

"It was somebody's son," said a distraught Calderon. "It could've been my son. It could've been one of my children. Why anybody's son? Why? What did he do?"

Police said they did not receive any calls regarding Halloween parties or out-of-control fights in the area prior to the shooting. They were canvassing the neighborhood to see if witnesses heard or saw anything before gunshots rang out.

It was unclear what led to the shooting, and authorities did not have a description of a suspect or suspects.

The investigation was ongoing.

Anyone with information was asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800)222-TIPS.