LONG BEACH (CNS) - An ex-con who allegedly shot and killed a man following a brief exchange of words in Long Beach was charged today with murder.
Ernesto Contreras, 43, is charged with one count each of murder and possession of a firearm by a felon.
The criminal complaint alleges that the defendant -- also known by the alias “Psycho'' -- has prior convictions from 1999 for assault with a semiautomatic firearm and in 2018 for possession of a firearm by a felon and that he personally used a firearm during the crime.
Contreras, a Long Beach resident, is suspected of exchanging words with a 34-year-old Long Beach man last Saturday and then shooting the man before fleeing on foot, according to Long Beach police.
Police said they were investigating the shooting as gang-related.
Officers were dispatched to the scene in the 1000 block of East Anaheim Street a little after 2 p.m. Saturday. The victim -- whose name has not been released by the coroner's office -- died later at an area hospital.
Contreras was arrested at about 4:50 a.m. Sunday inside his vehicle in the 800 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, according to police.
He remains jailed in lieu of $3 million bail while awaiting arraignment June 29.
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