The Torrance Police Department responded just before midnight to reports of shots fired at Gable House Bowl in Torrance, about 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
Three men were pronounced dead at the scene, police said, and four more were injured. Two were taken to the hospital, and the others sought medical attention on their own.
A police spokesman said information about a suspect or motive was unavailable. Police did not identify the men who died.
One of the victims was identified by his sister as Michael Radford, 20.
Latrice Dumas said she was at the movies when her family called and said her brother had been shot. Dumas, 28, said she heard Radford was trying to protect his girlfriend, who had been accosted at the bowling alley.
“He always felt like he could be a protector,” Dumas said.
Radford grew up in Los Angeles, and worked in construction, she said.
She said he had a 7-month-old daughter.
Wesam Hamad, 29, was bowling with his 13-year-old niece and 32-year-old cousin near the entrance of the alley. He said a fight broke out within a group of about 10 men and women near the desk where bowlers check in. Hamad said there was a small arcade there, and he heard someone slam into one of the machines.
Gable House Bowl did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The bowling alley offers glow bowling and laser tag, according to its website. Police said no bowling alley employees were injured.
The shooting set off renewed discussion about gun violence, as shootings continue to take place in public spaces, even in California, which has among the toughest gun laws in the nation. In November, a gunman set off smoke bombs and opened fire at a country-music bar, the Borderline Bar & Grill, in Thousand Oaks, Calif., killing 12 people.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said in a tweet that she was heartbroken for the victims of the bowling alley shooting and their loved ones.
“We must do more to address gun violence,” she said. “Americans should be able to go to a bowling alley and be safe.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.