One person was killed and another was hospitalized after shots rang out at a Metro bus station in Tarzana on Friday night.
Los Angeles police received reports of a shooting at the intersection of Reseda Boulevard and Oxnard Street around 7:30 p.m.
Arriving officers found two victims with gunshot wounds at the station for the MTA Orange Line busway.
“We heard six shots and they were super close by,” said Juan Gonzalez, a witness who was nearby. “We looked over and we saw two people fall. We ran inside a Baskin-Robbins and tried to look through the windows and we saw two bodies on the ground [outside].”
Gonzalez said one of the victims was heard yelling as he crawled on the ground in pain while bleeding heavily. Gonzalez said they did not spot the suspected gunman at the time.
Both victims were transported to a local hospital with injuries. One victim was in stable condition and the second victim later died at the hospital, authorities said.
Homicide detectives have shut down the bus stop to investigate the deadly shooting. Buses in the area are being diverted from the station.
It’s unclear whether the victims were waiting for the bus at the time. The events that led up to the fatal incident remain limited.
“What we witnessed today was really shocking, it was alarming,” Gonzalez said. “It was very graphic and it was super close by. The gunshots were right there and it’s just a tragedy to see that we have to resort to violence in today’s time to get our points across. I just hope that they get better.”
L.A. Metro officials released a statement saying:
“Metro is deeply saddened to hear about the act of senseless violence that occurred adjacent to the G Line (Orange) Reseda Station. Preliminary reports from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) indicate that this incident may be gang-related. The incident appears to have begun at the intersection of Reseda and Oxnard and migrated toward the bus station. No Metro employees or transit customers were present at the station during the incident.”
No suspect descriptions were provided and the victims’ identities have not been released.
Anyone with information related to this crime is asked to call LAPD’s Crime Stoppers Tipline at 800-222-8477.