Seven people are in critical condition and at least 23 others were injured after a vehicle drove into a crowd on Santa Monica Boulevard in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, early Saturday morning.
Sgt. Travis Ward, Central Traffic Division Watch Commander, at the Los Angeles Police Department said the driver was shot after the collision, and had been transported to hospital and taken into surgery. For this reason, he said, LAPD was unable to determine if the driver was intoxicated.
Pictures from the scene showed a bashed up grey vehicle straddling the sidewalk with debris strewn across the floor. At least a dozen firefighters can be seen alongside a number of people sitting on the floor on blankets.
In another picture, firefighters appear to be helping to lift someone off the ground by the car.
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.”
Sgt. 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.
Captain 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 LAFD was dispatched at 2 a.m. PDT.
Seven people are in critical condition alongside six people in serious condition, LAFD said in a separate statement, with 10 others being treated for injury. Seven other individuals declined help at the scene. It said 124 fire personnel assisted at the scene.
Sgt. Ward said there were no confirmed fatalities.
Bill Feather contributed.
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