LOS ANGELES, CA – Los Angeles police responded to two stabbings near the Taste of Soul festival on Crenshaw Boulevard in South Los Angeles on Saturday and later issued a citywide tactical alert over a large, unruly crowd, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The LAPD received a call about 2:45 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, about two stabbings in the 4200 block of Crenshaw Boulevard, LAPD spokesperson Norma Eisenman said.
Officers who responded found two victims, Eisenman said. The Los Angeles Fire Department took both of them to a hospital.
Hours later, at about 5:30 p.m., the department issued the tactical alert. It stayed in effect for several hours.
Two victims found and taken to a hospital
Eisenman said the two victims were “not cooperative” with officers at the scene. The Los Angeles Fire Department transported them to a hospital.
LAPD Officer Charles Miller of Media Relations said officers located two people at a hospital and interviewed them. He said the department took reports involving assaults by cutting, including assault with a deadly weapon.
The department had not released the condition of either victim in the information available Monday.
Tactical alert issued about 5:30 p.m.
Eisenman said the LAPD issued the tactical alert about 5:30 p.m. after a report of “more than 100 young adults being unruly” near Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards.
The alert remained in effect for several hours. Eisenman said it was lifted about 9:30 p.m.
What a tactical alert means
The LAPD describes a tactical alert as the preliminary stage of its Mobilization Plan for Unusual Occurrences. The step redistributes on-duty personnel so the department can reach the staffing it needs to control a major police incident.
While an alert is in effect, officers in the affected areas confine their activities to police work of major importance. The department lists felony arrests and immediate public-safety needs as examples.
Second stabbing reported after 6 p.m.
Shortly after 6 p.m., officers responded to another stabbing in the 4200 block of Crenshaw Boulevard, according to initial reports. They found a juvenile girl with a stab wound, who was taken to a hospital. Her condition was not known.
The girl is not identified because she is a minor.
In the afternoon attack, the suspect was described as a male between 20 and 30 years old, according to initial reports.
Festival organizers say event ended as planned
Taste of Soul is an annual free street festival that celebrates African American food, music and culture. Organizers said the police activity did not take place at the heart of the event.
“Police activity happened on the outskirts of the event,” organizers said in a statement. They said the incidents “did not impact operations” and that the festival “ended as planned.”
Detectives have not confirmed whether the stabbings are connected to each other or whether the large crowd was linked to the violence.
Public data on reported offenses
The City of Los Angeles publishes the LAPD NIBRS Offenses Dataset. It consolidates offense records entered into the department’s Records Management System and lists locations by hundred block.
The dataset can be used to look up reported assaults by area and date. According to its catalog entry, it was first published March 11, 2026, and last updated Oct. 13, 2026.
No arrests announced in stabbings
The LAPD had announced no arrests in connection with the stabbings or the crowd as of Monday, and the investigation remains ongoing. The department had not released the victims’ identities.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.
