Eduardo Rodriguez, 14

Eduardo Rodriguez, a 14-year-old Latino, was shot and killed Wednesday, Nov. 17, in the 1600 block of East 53rd Street in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Several assailants approached a home Rodriguez was in about 9 p.m. and fired through the front door, said Sgt. Dina Zapalski, a spokeswoman for the Long Beach Police Department.

Eduardo was struck in his upper body and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

 Zapalski said the assailants are believed to be male, but there was no further information on their identities. Although investigators believe the victim had no ties to gangs, one of his male family members does, she said, and the shooting is being investigated as possibly gang-related.

It appears the suspect or suspects “intended to shoot an unknown person inside the residence,” police said in a statement. “All possible motives are being investigated.”

“This is not an area where you would suspect gang-related activity; it’s a residential area,” Zapalski said, adding that detectives “don’t have a lot of good information at this time.”

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Long Beach police homicide detectives at (562) 570-7244. To send an anonymous tip via text or email go to www.longbeach.gov/police.

-- Sam Allen