By Anthony Kurzweil and Ellina Abovian
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LONG BEACH, Calif. (KTLA) — Police are searching for whoever fatally shot a man who was in a Long Beach Jack in the Box drive-thru lane early Wednesday morning.
The shooting was reported about 12:16 a.m. at the restaurant near the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and East 52nd Street.
Arriving officers found an unconscious man with gunshot wounds inside a blue Chevrolet Malibu in the parking lot.
Efforts to revive the man were unsuccessful, Long Beach Police Department Officer Alvino Herrera said.
Long Beach Fire Department personnel arrived and pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
Jack in the Box employees apparently saw the shooting as the car was at the drive-thru window. The vehicle left the window after shooting and came to a stop in the parking lot nearby.
Herrera could not confirm any witness accounts but said a homicide investigation was underway.
Evidence markers could be seen from the drive-thru window to where the car came to a stop.
No description of the gunman was available.
It was also unclear if the victim in the shooting was targeted or not.
A local shop owner said crime is a problem in the area. “We have a problem with delinquency here,” he said. Sometimes people enter the stores and just take whatever they want, said the shop owner, who did not want to be identified. “Tomorrow can be a kid. Can be a mother … We need the Police Department around this area,” he said.
Investigators will be searching the area for surveillance video, Herrera said.