Los Angeles police detectives are asking the public to help them identify a man suspected of shooting the driver of a car that plowed into a crowd outside a nightclub on July 19.
Photos released on July 21 by detectives show a bald man who appeared to be among the crowd.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic male, 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-7, 150 to 170 pounds, and last seen wearing a blue Dodgers jacket and light-blue jersey with the number five on the front and blue jeans, according to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
The suspect also had wide earlobe plugs in both ears and a goatee, police reported. Earlier, the LAPD warned he was possibly armed with a silver revolver.
At least 36 people were hurt in the early morning of July 19 after a vehicle drove into a crowd outside The Vermont Hollywood, an East Hollywood nightclub, according to official estimates.
Police responded to a call of an “assault with a deadly weapon” at about 2 a.m. that morning in the 4600 block of Santa Monica Boulevard, according to an LAPD Facebook post.
When they arrived, they found the driver being assaulted by bystanders and noted he had been shot.
The suspect who shot the driver fled the scene on foot, the LAPD reported.
Videos of the vehicle attack posted on social media showed sections of the road in front of the venue cordoned off by authorities. People were being taken away in the ambulances that lined the street. X users posted videos of people lying on the sidewalk and being helped by emergency responders.
The club was hosting a reggae and hip hop event that night, which ended at 2 a.m., according to its online calendar.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic incident that occurred early Saturday morning outside our venue,” the club posted on Instagram on July 19. “Our thoughts and heartfelt prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult time.”
Police are looking for this man in connection with a July 19 shooting at a nightclub in Hollywood, Calif., after a vehicle struck a crowd outside the club. (LAPD)
Attendees at the event were just leaving the venue when they were struck by the vehicle, according to the club.
“We are working closely with law enforcement to ensure the person responsible for this horrific act is held fully accountable,” the club added.
The driver who allegedly smashed the vehicle into the crowd was identified as Fernando Ramirez, 29, of San Clemente, according to police. He was arrested at the scene after his vehicle came to a stop. Ramirez was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and force likely to produce great bodily injury.
LAPD Capt. Ben Fernandes told the Los Angeles Times that Ramirez was kicked out of the nightclub before the vehicle attack for being disruptive. He said the driver was hospitalized with a gunshot wound in the back and is in stable condition.
Ramirez has a criminal past. He was 23 when he entered a Whole Foods Market in Laguna Beach, Calif., and punched an employee who was on a lunch break, breaking the man’s nose and damaging his two front teeth, according to court documents.
Two witnesses called 911 and described it as an unprovoked attack, the court documents state.
Ramirez was convicted by a jury of aggravated battery with serious bodily injury that was deemed a race-based hate crime. The victim was African American and wore dreadlocks, according to court records.
Ramirez was sentenced to a six-year prison term in 2020, according to the court.
He appealed the decision, claiming that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress statements he made to police after his arrest. Court records state that Ramirez told police he punched the victim because he was “black and [Ramirez] hated all black people.”
The appeals court agreed and reversed his conviction for the hate crime enhancement and civil rights conviction. His aggravated battery conviction was not reversed.
Ramirez was on parole at the time of the crash.
