Seven people are in critical condition and at least 23 others were injured after a vehicle drove into a crowd outside a nightclub on Santa Monica Boulevard in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, early Saturday morning.
Rampart patrol officers with the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a call of an assault with a deadly weapon near the area of Vermont Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard at around 2 a.m.
“When officers arrived, they found the driver being assaulted by bystanders and determined he had sustained a gunshot wound,” the LAPD said in an update.
LAPD Sgt. Travis Ward, watch commander at the central traffic division, said the driver was shot after the collision, transported to the hospital and taken into surgery. For this reason, he said, the LAPD was unable to determine if the driver was intoxicated.
The LAPD described the suspect who shot the driver as “a Hispanic male, approximately 5 feet, 9 inches tall, 180 pounds, bald, wearing a blue jersey, and possibly armed with a silver revolver.” The man fled the scene on foot and was last seen going westbound from Vermont Avenue, the LAPD said.
Police are asking anyone with information on the suspect to get in touch.
An vehicle is being taken away after it drove into a crowd on July 19 in Los Angeles. (Robyn Beck / AFP – Getty Images)
Pictures from the scene showed a bashed-up gray vehicle straddling the sidewalk with debris strewn across the ground. At least a dozen firefighters can be seen alongside a number of people sitting on the ground on blankets.
In another picture, firefighters appear to be helping to lift someone off the ground by the car.
“This is a heartbreaking tragedy,” Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass said in a statement Saturday. “The hearts of Angelenos are with all of the victims impacted this morning — a full investigation into what happened is underway.”
A man who was inside the nightclub told NBC News that he heard a “loud bang” and that a crowd of people ducked believing they’d heard gunshots.
“We look out the club, and it’s a car into the hole right there,” he said. “And then it’s crazy, because people everywhere, laying down, unconscious people, bleeding out and stuff.”
Ward added it was too early to say if the incident was intentional or if the driver ran off the road, adding an investigation was ongoing.
Capt. Adam VanGerpen, public information officer for the Los Angeles Fire Department, told NBC News that the vehicle hit a taco cart before running into a large number of people outside a nightclub. He said the fire department was dispatched at 2 a.m. PT.
Seven people are in critical condition and six are in serious condition, the LAFD said in a separate statement, with 10 others being treated for injuries. Seven others declined help at the scene. It said 124 fire personnel assisted at the scene.
Ward said there were no confirmed fatalities.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
