LOS ANGELES — Nine people were injured Saturday morning when a man driving a pickup truck jumped a curb in the Westlake community, striking several pedestrians on a sidewalk.
The driver of a Ford F-15O told police that he was driving on Wilshire Boulevard when he saw what he believed was a man pointing a gun at him, KTLA-TV reported.
The man said he swerved to avoid the alleged gunman but lost control of the vehicle and struck numerous vendors and people crowded on the sidewalk, the TV station reported.
The Los Angeles Police Department later confirmed to KABC-TV that no gun was ever seen.
According to officials with the Los Angeles Fire Department, the driver, his passenger and all of the people struck on the sidewalk suffered minor injuries, the TV station reported.
In a statement released Saturday afternoon, the LAPD confirmed that one of the sidewalk victims was a man, three were women, one was an 8-year-old girl and another was an 8-year-old boy.
“Two male adults and one female adult refused any additional medical treatment,” the LAPD stated.
The driver was neither impaired nor arrested, police confirmed to KABC.