Police have not determined the cause; the driver is being examined
A white SUV crashed into people on a sidewalk next to a metro station in North Hollywood on Tuesday evening, killing three people and leaving three others in critical condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
The Los Angeles Police Department said the vehicle was a white SUV and that it hit at least five people at a busy intersection just before 6 p.m.
At least three people were taken to a hospital, including the driver, according to officials.
Officials have not determined the cause of the crash or ruled out anything. “We don’t know if it was done intentionally, if it was done by accident,” LAPD Captain Warner Castillo said at a news conference Tuesday night.
Castillo said the driver, whose name has not been released, is in his early 60s, and that officials are doing an exam to check if he was under the influence.
Photo and video posted online show a white vehicle on a sidewalk next to tents for vendors, along with emergency crews. Posts show a crew moved a person away on a stretcher.
Mayor Karen Bass said the victims included street vendors and pedestrians. “I’m heartbroken for the families of everyone impacted,” Bass said in a post on X.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said authorities will be checking video in the area in what will be a “prolonged but very deliberate investigation.” The cause of the crash was undetermined as of Tuesday night’s news conference, and police had not released the driver’s name.