Man suffering from gunshot wound crashes vehicle in Hollywood near W Hotel; Search for gunman continues
A Los Angeles Police Department investigation into a shooting near a traffic collision in Hollywood Wednesday evening continued into Thursday as they searched for a suspect wanted in the fatal incident.
At about 7:00 p.m., officers responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call at the corner of Selma and Argyle Avenues and found an unconscious man suffering from a gunshot wound.
According to police, the victim was shot multiple times after getting into a confrontation with the suspected gunman. The victim tried to get away from the scene in his car, but ultimately crashed into parked vehicles on the side of the road.
"The car started to sputter and wander, and then crash on the other side of the intersection," said witness Merritt Hurley. "It was clear it was a murder."
The Los Angeles Fire Department took the man to a hospital where he later died. On Monday, authorities identified the victim as 30-year-old Providence Village, Texas native Antonio Washington.
Police on Friday arrested a suspect, who has since been identified as 27-year-old La Puente resident Mario David Ramirez.
The gunman was described as a 5-foot-8-inch man with dark hair and eyes. He weighed about 180 pounds and drove off in a white Mercedes Benz.
LAPD officers noted the danger this incident presented to the community in the area.
"Obviously anytime there is gunfire in a city environment it does put people at risk," said Los Angeles Police Department Captain Ray Valois. "You never know what pedestrians are walking on the street, or other cars driving by."
They also indicated that this is the third fatal shooting in the immediate area in a week's time, after a man and woman were gunned down in a Hollywood street less than a half-mile away from Wednesday's scene.
Residents are unfortunately not as surprised as they would like to be.
"I think that there's definitely been a change," said Allen Yates, a nearby resident. "It's always been sort of a rough area, but it's definitely a lot more lately."
In the Hollywood area, LAPD crime stats show a more than 30% increase in violent crimes since 2020, including homicides, robberies and aggravated assaults.
That number is more than double the citywide numbers, which show a 15% increase in violent crime in the same time span.
"There's been more stabbings, more people getting robbed," said another resident, David Dolinski. "It's not what you want to be going on, but what do you do? It's a fundamental socioeconomic problem and we're not taking it serious."
Investigators had already cleared the scene by Thursday morning, though one single candle had been left at the site of the crash.
