LAPD Probes Stabbings Near Taste Of Soul Festival

Two reports of stabbings near Los Angeles’ Taste of Soul drew a police response on Saturday (October 17). The free Crenshaw festival stayed open and ended on time, its team said.

The festival’s team told ABC7 that police activity took place outside the grounds. “Police activity happened on the outskirts of the event,” they said.

The first call came in around 2:45 p.m. near Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards. LAPD Officer Charles Miller told City News Service that a group had been in a fight. At least one person reportedly had a stab wound.

Those involved had left by the time police reached the scene. Police checked hospitals to try to find a victim.

LAPD’s press team later said police found two people at a hospital. They spoke with them and took assault-with-a-deadly-weapon reports over cuts. Their condition was not known.

Fire crews took one person to a hospital after a second report at 6:10 p.m., CBS LA said.

That call came from the 4200 block of Crenshaw Boulevard. ABC7 said the patient had possible stab wounds. Police had not said if the two cases had a link.

LAPD’s citywide tactical alert lasted for hours. The alert ended Saturday night.

Taste of Soul was in its 21st year. Bakewell Media and the Los Angeles Sentinel put on the event. Its hours ran from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The stage plan named Lucky Daye, Alex Isley, Joyce Wrice, Jenevieve and Daley on the KJLH bill. Other planned acts included Thelma Houston, Midnight Star and Switch. The three-stage plan spanned R&B, soul, gospel and Hip-Hop.

The program paired local food vendors and shops with job resources and voter sign-ups. Guests could get free health checks and help with benefits. St. John’s Community Health planned care and games for families, with five first-aid stations planned along the route.

On the site, founder Danny J. Bakewell Sr. said the goal was to support Black businesses and bring people together. The site says more than three million guests have come over 21 years.

The reports did not say what led to the stabbings.