Man is stabbed to death in Compton

A man was stabbed to death in Compton early Sunday morning, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s deputies found the victim, between 20 and 30 years old, with a stab wound to his abdomen in the 4600 block of Alondra Boulevard just before 3 a.m., authorities said.

The man was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Homicide Report: Tracking killings in L.A. County

The victim had just ordered food from a truck when two men walked up behind him and stabbed him, witnesses told authorities. The suspects fled on foot down Alondra Boulevard, then south on Atlantic Boulevard and out of view.

It was not clear if the incident was gang-related, according to Sgt. Richard Peña.

The city has seen a surge in gang-related homicides this year. As of Saturday, Compton has had at least 22 slayings, all of which have been classified as gang-related by authorities, according to figures provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which patrols Compton.

Mayor Aja Brown said Compton, a city of about 100,000, is in the midst of a community emergency as violent crime has risen. The city has deployed five additional two-person patrol cars, and Brown announced a community policing task force composed of community leaders and law enforcement.

Compton has seen its homicide rate decline since 2005, when there were 66 killings. Brown said she hopes the city will not revert to those times and blamed the recent increase in violent crime in part on the state’s effort to relieve prison overcrowding through what is known as realignment, in which people convicted of less serious felonies are sentenced to county jail facilities instead of state prisons.

According to the Sheriff’s Department, the city is also seeing increases in aggravated assault, burglary and theft.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

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Twitter: @Sam_Schaefer | @nicolesantacruz

Samantha.Schaefer@latimes.com | nicole.santacruz@latimes.com