Around 11:30 p.m. on the night of Monday, May 14, 2018, commotion broke out near the intersection of Granada Avenue and Ocean Boulevard in the coastal community of Long Beach. According to authorities, the incident began when a man approached an adult woman on the street and grabbed her cellphone. The woman cried out for help as the man attempted to flee down the corridor of Ocean Boulevard. Her screams quickly drew the attention of nearby bystanders, who stepped in to stop the suspect from getting away.
What began as an attempted citizen detention quickly turned chaotic. Witnesses and investigators reported that bystanders struggled to subdue the man, resulting in a physical altercation on the street. By the time Long Beach Police Department patrol units arrived at the scene, one of the bystanders was actively restraining the individual on the ground. With the assistance of Marine Patrol Special Services personnel, officers placed handcuffs on the suspect, who offered no resistance.
Almost immediately after placing him in restraints, officers recognized that the man had entered severe medical distress. Police removed the handcuffs and initiated emergency life-saving measures while summoning paramedics to the scene. Despite efforts by officers and emergency personnel, the man could not be revived and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after midnight on May 15, 2018. The Los Angeles County coroner's office later identified the deceased as Shawn Jeffrey Dunford, a 41-year-old Black man who had been experiencing homelessness.
The physical struggle that preceded his collapse raised immediate questions for investigators. Following Dunford's death, both the Long Beach Police Department homicide detail and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Justice System Integrity Division initiated independent investigations to determine the precise circumstances surrounding the altercation and his subsequent custody death. The county coroner's office placed a security hold on the autopsy pending toxicology and forensic analysis to determine whether blunt force trauma from the altercation, an underlying medical event, or other factors caused his death.
The incident occurred along a busy stretch of Belmont Shore and the beachfront area, where Ocean Boulevard meets Granada Avenue—a neighborhood that typically sees high pedestrian activity during daytime hours but relatively few violent encounters at night. In 2018, Long Beach recorded over two dozen homicides across the city, prompting heightened community awareness around street violence, bystander interventions, and deaths occurring during law enforcement detentions.
Years after the confrontation on Ocean Boulevard, no bystanders or individuals involved in the physical fight have been arrested or charged in connection with Dunford's death. Detectives have maintained an open file on the case and continue to seek additional eyewitnesses who may have seen the beginning of the altercation, the struggle on the street, or the response of first responders. Authorities continue to urge anyone with details about the incident to contact the Long Beach Police Department Homicide Detail or submit tips anonymously through Crime Stoppers.
