At least 30 injured when car hits crowd outside Los Angeles club, fire department says

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - At least 30 people were injured early Saturday morning when a vehicle drove into a crowd outside a club on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, the city's fire department and local media reports said.

At least seven people were in critical condition and six others were seriously injured, the fire department said in an online statement.

The incident occurred just before 2 am local time (0900 GMT), the fire department said.

Captain Adam VanGerpen, a fire department spokesman, was quoted by ABC News as saying that a paramedic assessing one of the injured found a gunshot wound. He said he was unable to confirm reports that it was the driver of the car that hit the crowd.

The car, he said, apparently first careened into a taco truck outside the venue and then plowed through a valet stand and into a large group of people.

Videos posted on X showed roads being sealed off and patients being taken away in ambulances.

Authorities gave no immediate details on the cause of the incident or the identity of the driver.

Officers responding to a radio call of an assault with a deadly weapon found the driver had been shot while being assaulted by onlookers, the police said, adding that he was taken to a hospital and his condition was unknown.

A man suspected of shooting the driver fled the scene on foot and possibly was armed with a silver revolver, the police said.