Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.latimes.com
Three people were killed and others were injured when a car hit a crowd of street vendors and pedestrians in North Hollywood on Tuesday evening, authorities said.
Police responded to the 3500 block of N. Lankershim Blvd. near Chandler Boulevard, just steps from the entrance to the North Hollywood B Line Metro station, after receiving a report at 5:55 p.m. that a car drove onto the sidewalk and struck pedestrians, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Three pedestrians were pronounced dead at the scene. Two others and the driver, identified only as an adult man, were taken to a hospital for treatment, said Capt. Mike Bland, an LAPD spokesperson.
Bland said the vehicle was traveling southbound on Lankershim when it hopped the curb. It is unclear what caused the crash.
The incident occurred in a typically busy area packed with evening commuters. Vendors are often at train stop entrances on either side of Lankershim to serve coffee, pastries, tamales and other snacks to people traveling on the Metro.
The crash resulted in a massive response from law enforcement and paramedics.
“First responders are on the scene, and my office is closely coordinating with City departments as authorities work to determine what caused this horrific incident,” Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement on X. “I’m heartbroken for the families of everyone impacted.”
Kassandra Guzman, 12, was sitting at her family’s smash burger stand across Lankershim when she saw a car barreling down Lankershim drive straight through the blue tarp where a number of food vendors usually set up.
The vendors sell coffee, tamales, hot dogs and pastries, according to Guzman, who said the people who were injured have been working there for years.
“I’m just glad it wasn’t my family, but it still hurts,” she said.
The deaths come two months after a driver slammed into a Metro bus in Chatworth, killing two people on board.
The driver in that incident, Bailee Lynn Rios, was charged with reckless driving, driving under the influence and two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of 46-year-old Daniel Castillo and 31-year-old Gage Weida, who was ejected from the bus in the crash.
