Weekend mayhem leaves 10 dead across L.A. County

Authorities were at a loss to explain a wave of mayhem over the weekend that left at least 10 people shot or stabbed to death in Los Angeles County.

Ten others were injured in violence that stretched from the High Desert city of Palmdale to the coastal community of Long Beach.

“It’s been going full tilt,� L.A. County sheriff’s Sgt. Rich Pena said. “I don’t know what’s going on here.�

Authorities sometimes see a spike in crime when the weather’s hot and more people are outdoors, but the weekend was relatively cool.

The violence began Friday at about 10 p.m. in Long Beach, when two men were shot to death at a birthday party. Then just before 6 p.m. Saturday, a man was hospitalized after being shot by police at a home in affluent Belmont Heights.

Three people were shot dead over the weekend in Compton. And in Pico Rivera, a valet died when a man opened gunfire outside a nightclub.

In Culver City on Saturday, a man who authorities say confronted officers with a handgun at the city’s police station was shot and killed.

A woman was killed during a drive-by shooting in Inglewood on Saturday, and in Palmdale, a resident walked out to her backyard to find a man lying dead.

In Hawthorne, a police officer shot a suspected car thief who “jumped from an elevated porch and confronted the officer,� Pena said. The suspect’s injuries weren’t life-threatening.

In Los Angeles, a 25-year-old man was stabbed to death just after midnight Saturday during an argument on Figueroa Street and Pico Boulevard, said LAPD Officer Gregory Baek.

There were also non-fatal shooting in La Puente and Pasadena.

The slayings come at a time when homicides — especially those involving gangs — have declined dramatically throughout the county.

“For whatever reason, it’s been a pretty violent weekend,� Pena said. “I was thinking, ‘For gosh sakes, what’s going on here? Is it the last night of summer or what?’ �

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