LA nightclub crowd crash which left 30 injured may have been intentional, police say

A crash outside a Los Angeles nightclub which left 30 people injured may have been intentional, according to police.

Seven people are said to be in a critical condition, while at least 23 others were injured, after a car drove into a crowd outside the nightclub.

The fire department's Adam Van Gerpen told Sky's US partner NBC News that the car struck a taco cart before hitting people outside a nightclub at around 2am on Saturday.

Pictures from Santa Monica Boulevard, in East Hollywood, show a damaged grey Nissan Versa that had mounted the pavement.

According to NBC News, cameras in the area are still being canvassed, but the incident appears to have been intentional, according to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).

The force later named the driver as 29-year-old Fernando Ramirez. He has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

Officers "found the driver being assaulted by bystanders and determined he had sustained a gunshot wound", police said, adding that the wound was sustained after the collision.

The LAPD say the person suspected of inflicting the gunshot wound - a man described by police as a 5ft 9in, bald, Hispanic, and possibly carrying a silver revolver - fled on foot.

Sergeant Travis Ward said Ramirez had been taken to hospital for surgery, and it was currently unclear if he was intoxicated. He remains hospitalised and has not been booked into jail, the LAPD said.

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A man who was inside the nightclub told NBC he heard a "loud bang" and a number of people ducked after hearing what they believed to be 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."

The 14.3 mile (23km) boulevard spans nearly the entire city of Los Angeles, from West Hollywood to the Santa Monica Pier.

(c) Sky News 2025: LA nightclub crowd crash which left 30 injured may have been intentional, police say