Four homeless men shot in Playa del Rey near Ballona Wetlands

Four men living on the streets were wounded in a predawn shooting Wednesday in Playa del Rey near the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve.

Two of the victims were initially in critical condition after the shooting, which took place on a stretch of road where people live in RVs and cars. By the evening, all four victims remained hospitalized and were considered stable.

Three of the victims were taken to a hospital by a good Samaritan and a fourth by paramedics.

Police responded at 5:43 a.m. to reports of gunfire near West Jefferson and Lincoln boulevards, said Officer Rosario Cervantes, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman.

Based on witness accounts, detectives initially said they were seeking a female suspect and a second person who may have fled in a black car. But later the LAPD said it had no descriptions of those responsible.

Detectives questioned a woman at the scene, but she was not taken into custody.

It is not clear what provoked the shooting. While all four of the men shot lived at the nearby homeless encampment, the LAPD said late Wednesday that “the shooting does not appear to be related to that fact.” Investigators also said the shooting “does not appear to be gang- or drug-related.”

Earlier this year, the encampment was blamed as the source of a fire in the wetlands.