At least 30 injured after car plows into crowd outside East Hollywood nightclub

At least 30 people were injured – seven of them critically – when a vehicle drove into a crowd waiting in line outside an East Hollywood nightclub early Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Firefighters who got there saw that a car had driven into a lot of people in front of The Vermont Hollywood music venue.

“They drove through a taco stand, through the valet podium, and then through the crowd of people that were waiting to go inside,” said Capt. Adam VanGerpen, public information officer for the Los Angeles City Fire Department.

Around 2 a.m., near the intersection of North Vermont Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard in the East Hollywood district, officials said the motorist went off the road and onto the sidewalk. The crowd had come from a night of D.J.s playing reggaeton and hip-hop that had just ended at the Vermont Hollywood, a performance venue and club.

The vehicle struck a taco cart and “then ultimately ran into a large number of people who were outside a club in East Hollywood,” Capt Adam VanGerpen, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, told reporters at the scene on Saturday morning.

On a typical weekend night, the street outside The Vermont is thrumming with clubgoers filtering in and out of the venue. 

“It was a large chaotic scene,” said Adam VanGerpen, a spokesperson with the L.A. City Fire Department, who arrived at the crash site around 3 a.m. “People were just waiting in line, getting some tacos and going into the club.”

“When officers arrived, they found the driver had been assaulted by bystanders and determined he sustained a gunshot wound,” police said. He and 23 other people from the club were brought to the hospital. We don't know how the driver is doing.

Seven victims were transported in critical condition, six in serious condition, and 10 in fair condition, the LAFD said. The agency said that seven individuals declined to be sent to the hospital after being evaluated on the scene. According to Lillian Carranza, a commander with the LAPD, the victims were 18 women and 12 males between the ages of 20 and 30.

Police said that the motorist was taken to the hospital and is having surgery, but is in stable condition.

“However, he is not free to leave. He is in the custody of Los Angeles Police Department, and we’re looking at charges such as attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon at this point,” Carranza said.

The LAPD said the man who shot the woman and then ran away was wearing a blue jersey. Police think that a silver revolver was used to fire. “We consider him armed and dangerous right now,” Lee said.

The street was back to normal by Saturday morning, with the flea market taking over part of the block. However, there were still indications of the incident, such as a single woman's shoe and a Lime e-bike that had been knocked over.

“This is 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,” Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.