At least 30 hurt as car rams into Hollywood crowd outside club, driver shot by angry bystanders
The suspect was 'undergoing surgery' and in stable condition, Lillian Carranza from the Los Angeles Police Department said.
'He is not free to leave, he is in the custody of Los Angeles Police Department,' Carranza told local news station KCAL, adding that police were looking into charges including attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
The driver was pulled out of the car by the crowd and attacked in the chaos that followed the car ramming, which took place around 2 am (0900 GMT), according to police.
Authorities were searching for a gunman who shot and wounded the driver before fleeing on foot.
Footage posted on social media showed panicked people running outside the club and victims sprawled on a blood-stained sidewalk, while others sobbed nearby.
The driver of the car, reportedly a Nissan Versa sedan, was pulled from the vehicle by the crowd, handcuffed and brutally beaten, a video on social media showed.
'When officers arrived, they found the driver being assaulted by bystanders and determined he had sustained a gunshot wound,' a police statement said.
ore than 100 firefighters responded to the scene in East Hollywood.
'We have 30 victims, 18 females and 12 males between the ages of the mid-twenties to early thirties,' Carranza said.
even were in critical condition and six were in serious condition, authorities said. Ten suffered minor injuries while seven left the hospital against medical advice.
'Heartbreaking tragedy'
Many clubgoers were outside when the car ploughed into the crowd, a taco truck and a valet stand.
'They were all standing in line going into a nightclub. 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,' Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Adam Van Gerpen told ABC News.
'The valet podium was taken out, the taco truck was taken out, and then a large number of people were impacted by the vehicle.'
At dawn Saturday, a tow truck hauled away the car, its bumper torn off. Club employees power washed the sidewalk outside The Vermont Hollywood, which had been hosting a reggae and hip-hop event.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the incident 'a heartbreaking tragedy.'
'The hearts of Angelenos are with all of the victims impacted this morning – a full investigation into what happened is underway,' she said in a statement.
The Vermont Hollywood club said on social media it was 'deeply saddened by the tragic incident.' The area of the car ramming is near Hollywood landmarks including Sunset Boulevard and the Walk of Fame – a sidewalk emblazoned with stars commemorating movie industry figures. — AFP
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