Looks like over a thousand people are gathered in the Staples Center neighborhood right now, with some small fires being set in the street and quickly extinguished — including of trees pulled out of the ground. Some bottles and firecrackers have been tossed toward police, and KCAL chopper pilot Larry Welk says the LAPD is preparing a dispersal order. There's also a good-sized crowd on Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles. We're passing along media reports and credible tweets over at the LA Observed Twitter channel.

9 p.m. update: "LAPD taking lots of rocks, lots of bottles," says Larry Welk on KCAL in chopper over Staples Center. "Very tense situation." Reporters on ground not necessarily agreeing with him.