An item originally focused on late night safety concerns in Belmont Shore has resulted in a citywide study on gun violence, after an uneasy back and forth at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Councilmember Kristina Duggan, who represents the Belmont Shore corridor in East Long Beach, asked for a late night safety plan for her district following its third deadly shooting in the last 18 months. On Oct. 25, Long Beach resident Jeremy Spears was shot and killed by a man and a woman following an altercation at a bar on Second Street, according to police.
The immediate reaction was to crack down on nightlife in Belmont Shore, which residents say has gotten more intense in recent years. Two other people have been killed after leaving bars in Belmont Shore in the last 18 months.
Bars and nightclubs along Second Street have agreed to a 30-day midnight, curfew rather than the typical 2 a.m. closing time, while the City creates a long-term plan…