John Deats
Wilson High Class of 1960

A photograph of Melody Ross sits among flowers, candles and balloons on Ximeno Avenue at the location of last Friday's deadly shooting.

Long Beach Police Department detectives have arrested suspects believed to be responsible for the senseless murder of 16-year-old Wilson High School student Melody Ross, an honor student and track athlete, and the attempted murder of 18-year-old and 20-year-old male victims, who were all shot while standing amidst a group of people in the area of 10th Street and Ximeno Avenue after last Friday’s Wilson football game against Poly High.
At approximately 10pm that night, officers responded to the shooting. When they arrived, they found that three victims had been shot: the two males with non-life-threatening injuries, and Ross, who had suffered life-threatening injuries. All three victims were transported to the hospital, where Ross succumbed to her injuries.
The suspects believed responsible for this murder are a 16-year-old male resident of Long Beach and a 16-year-old male resident of Bellflower. Since both suspects are juveniles, their identity cannot be released. Detectives from the Homicide Detail presented the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office Thursday to file charges.
Outside Wilson, Ross’s classmates and others have paid homage to Ross and dealt with their grief by contributing flowers, balloons, candles, teddy bears and notes to an area near the sidewalk on Ximeno close to where the shooting occurred. Some have written messages directly onto the traffic-light post with permanent marker.
Homicide detectives are seeking more outstanding suspects and are asking that anyone in the area of Ximeno and 10th Street after the game who took photos or video that could assist in the investigation, or has any information regarding this incident, contact Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch and Malcolm Evans at (562) 570-7244.