Gunshots, a driver allegedly losing consciousness, and a runaway car all figure into a mysterious early morning crash that injured at least 30 people waiting to attend a popular Los Angeles nightclub.
In the early morning hours on Saturday a grey compact lost control, and after smashing into a taco truck and valet stand it plowed into a crowd of mostly women waiting to enter the Vermont Hollywood, authorities say.
The nightclub, located in an east Hollywood area off Santa Monica Boulevard popular with hipsters, was hosting a concert billed as “So-Cal’s Biggest Reggaeton & Hip-Hop Party” on Friday night.
“They were all standing in line going into a nightclub,” Capt. Adam Van Gerpen, public information officer for the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) told reporters. “There was a taco cart out there, so they were… getting some food, waiting to go in. And there’s also a valet line there… a large number of people were impacted by the vehicle.”
Twenty-three of the 30 injured were transported to area hospitals, seven with critical injuries, the LAFD spokesman said. He also confirmed that a person inside the car involved in the crash had a gunshot wound, though he didn’t know if it was the driver.
Unconfirmed eyewitness accounts suggest there was a shooting before the car plowed into the crowd, according to a report by the Sun. Channel 7 in Los Angeles reported the driver “lost consciousness” before the crash.
The incident drew more than 124 firefighters in addition to police and emergency medical technicians, according to the LAFD. An investigation is underway.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles based crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
