On October 2, 2005, at 12:08 am, Santa Monica Police responded to the Santa Monica Pier regarding a fight. Additional information indicated a subject was seen firing a gun in the air.
Numerous officers immediately responded to that initial call. A responding supervisor arrived and heard 3-4 shots coming from the 1600 block of the beach. He and other officers observed several people then run from the beach eastbound towards Ocean Front Walk. These people were detained. Witnesses also came forth, including a friend of the decedent, claiming their friend had been shot and was lying on the sand. Officers went to that location to find the victim (decedent) later identified as Michael Leon GATEWOOD, male, black, 25, of Los Angeles. GATEWOOD was transported to a local hospital where he expired at 1:05am. He appeared to have been shot approximately six times, mostly grazing wounds, but suffered one apparently fatal wound underneath the armpit. Information from witnesses and associates indicate decedent GATEWOOD belonged to the Los Angeles based gang known as the “Playboy Gangsta Crips”, which was consistent with a “PGC” tattoo observed on his body.
Two of the suspects seen fleeing the sand were detained in the 1670 Beach Parking lot. One of these suspects (Suspect #1 – male, black, juvenile 17 years of age) was identified as the suspect seen shooting a firearm into the air while on the pier. The second suspect, (Suspect #2 – female, black, juvenile) was running off the sand with the shooter. A handgun was located beneath a car in the 1670 Beach Parking lot in close proximity to their detention and arrest. (At the jail, Suspect #1 was found to have an empty holster tucked into his pants.) Two other suspects were arrested as possibly collaborating with Suspect #1 and Suspect #2. Both were male, black adults. A decision to seek criminal charges against these two subjects is pending. Crime scenes were established on the Pier, 1600 Block of the beach, and the 1670 Beach Parking lot. A command post was established, a bullet casing matching the caliber of the recovered firearm was found on the Pier in the area where the witness said he heard a shot fired and observed the suspect with a handgun.
Preliminarily, it is believed the decedent had a dispute/fight with Suspect #1 and Suspect #2. Decedent reportedly punches Suspect #2 (female/juvenile) in the face and struggles with Suspect #1(shooter). Suspect #1 allegedly pulls out a handgun and fires a round in the air to intimidate decedent. It is believed the dispute makes its way down on to the sand, near Lifeguard HQ, where suspect #1 shoots decedent.
It preliminarily appears that the decedent, Suspect #1, and Suspect #2 know each other and possibly have an undetermined/unverified relationship between them. A total of 14 associates of both the victim and suspects were present at the beach and were interviewed in the field and at Police Headquarters. The investigation is ongoing.
The primary suspect is a male, black, juvenile, 17 years of age, was booked for murder and was transported to a juvenile facility.
Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact the Robbery/Homicide Unit of the Santa Monica Police Department at 310 458-8451 or the Watch Commander’s Office at 310-458-8426.
