Twenty-eight people were injured, some critically, when a car plowed into a crowd outside an East Hollywood nightclub early Saturday, after which the driver was shot by someone in the crowd who fled the scene on foot.
The crash was reported just before 2 a.m. on July 19 in the 4600 block of West Santa Monica Boulevard near Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Lyndsey Lantz said. The crowd was standing outside a music venue named The Vermont Hollywood, where a show was taking place, according to multiple reports.
A total of three people were in critical condition, six were seriously injured and 19 were in fair condition, Lantz said.
Video from the scene showed firefighters putting red, yellow and green tarps in the street to triage patients, and a heavily dented car with a shattered windshield and broken headlights on the sidewalk in front of the venue.
Multiple ambulances were lined up in the street.
Officers were dispatched to the scene in response to an “assault with deadly weapon” call, the Los Angeles Police Department reported, adding that “a vehicle drove into a crowd for reasons still under investigation.”
Officers found the driver being assaulted by bystanders and determined that he had suffered a gunshot wound. He was rushed to a hospital and his condition was unknown.
The person who shot the driver fled the scene on foot, last seen heading westbound from Vermont Avenue. Police described him as a 5-feet-9-inch tall bald Latino man weighing about 180 pounds wearing a blue jersey and possibly armed with a silver revolver.
In a statement issued Saturday morning, Mayor Karen Bass call the crash a “heartbreaking tragedy. I want to thank the more than 100 LAFD and LAPD personnel who responded to the scene to help to save lives. The hearts of Angelenos are with all of the victims impacted this morning — a full investigation into what happened is underway.”
Anyone with information regarding the shooting was urged to call the LAPD’s Rampart station at 213-484-3424. Callers who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or visit lacrimestoppers.org.