A gunman on a motorcycle shot and injured three men as they left The Echo nightclub in loud volley of gunfire that was heard across Echo Park early this morning. Witnesses said the gunman – who wore a black helmet, clothing and boots – was sitting on a black Harley Davidson motorcycle when he started firing a semi-automatic pistol into the crowd leaving the Sunset Boulevard nightclub at about 2:10 AM, said Wes Buhrmester with the LAPD Rampart Division. “The suspect fired 8-10 rounds from a handgun at the group, and rode away,” Buhrmester said in an email. “Witnesses advised no dispute or fight occurred inside the location prior to the incident, and we are investigating to find a link at this time between the victims and the suspect. It is also not known if the victims were targeted, or if someone else was and these three were hit unintentionally. It does not appear gang-related.”
Two of three victims – who came from different part of the city – were treated and released from hospitals. A third man with a gunshot wound in the torso remains hospitalized, Buhrmester said.
* Update: The suspect is described as a stocky White or Latino male standing 5′-8″ to 5′-11″ tall and weighing between 200 to 230 pounds, according to preliminary reports. Rampart Division detective Rick Ramos provided a few more details about the case late this afternoon.
Related post:
Update on Echo Park shooting. The Eastsider
Echo Park shooting leaves its mark. The Eastsider
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What a shame. Awful for the victims, awful for the neighborhood. People go to the Echo for good clean fun. Even if there is some explanation for the shooting, the place is no thug magnet.
Hopefully the LAPD steps up for this, makes an arrest and gets a motive for the shooting, and hopefully people aren’t discouraged from hitting Sunset at night, even late at night. I do not want to see Echo Park go the way of Westwood because of this.
Also, nice reporting, Eastsider.
Scary stuff. I may have made an error in judgment in moving to this neighborhood.
Chris L, really? One incident and the place is like Beirut? Let’s ignore everything else and just focus on that?! SHRUG.
Besides, if it was a “black Harley Davidson motorcycle” we all know it was just some dumb yuppie who couldn’t handle his pistil, er, pistol.
@ Chris L…. don’t worry. This does suck, but there are so many amazing things about this neighborhood. Pinky Swear.
Chris,
You did not make an error in judgment in moving to Echo Park. And I say this being a resident of LA (Montecito Heights) myself. This was not borne out of any activity by the victims, or by the establishment. We are trying to establish motive. While it is not apparent as those of many crimes, there was some reason for the suspect to fire at the group, and we will ascertain it. Echo Park is still an excellent place to live, work, visit and do business. Unfortunately, no areas are immune to violence.
Wes
(213) 448-5822
25214@lapd.lacity.org
this is awful. we’ve come a long way in echo park the last few years… and this is probably one temporary step back. let’s stay postive and when they catch this person we’ll have more info to prevent something like this again – although i do agree with a previous comment – no area is immune to this type of violence.
Its not like I’m going to move based on this one incident…I really do like living in Echo Park and always talk the neighborhood up. I guess what shakes me up about this incident is that it it was someone firing into a group of innocent hipsters. I’ve lived in transitional neighborhoods far worse than Echo Park- Columbia Heights in Washington, DC for example. But the lingering violence there is always gang on gang, not against innocent people just trying to have a good time. I really hope this was just some nutjob and not some kind of anti-gentrification backlash.
Been right in that area for just about 4 years and this is the first thing like this I’ve heard of. While it’s certainly horrible, I wouldn’t up and move out of the area, by any means. One of the unfortunate realities of living in LA, or just about any “big city” is, this stuff happens from time to time.
Of interest – other news agencies are reporting the below description:
The suspect was described as a man about 5 feet 9 inches tall and 250 pounds, in a Hells Angels jacket and a black helmet, who was riding an unknown-type motorcycle.
I would also note that members of the Mongols (who used to be a motorcycle club) have begun hanging out at local bars on occasion.
Chris- Just a guess, but I’d think if there was some “anti-gentrification” backlash a) it would have happened at a busier time and day (say 11pm on a Friday or Saturday and b) someone wouldn’t have shot from a Harley.
At this time, there’s no indication it was based on gentrification. Anecdotally speaking, incidents like this often occur due to a personal dispute, and the object of the attack is often hesitant to reveal the motive. This does not mean that it has been established one of the patrons at the location is in fact withholding information. But the possibility exists.
Last year there were murders in Echo Park and Elysian Heights North of Sunset. Already in the neighborhood this year a young boy was injured by random gunfire south of the 101. Three people were shot in a parking lot off of Hillhurst in Los Feliz and Silver Lake has had several shooting victims so far this year. This stuff happens around LA and all over the country. Ten years ago it was common. Now it’s pretty rare, but it does happen. From everything described, this seemed to be a person dressed for the occasion who laid in wait for his targets — and it is a pretty good reminder of the fact that most violence in this city is personal and non-gang-related.
If this helps to burst the hipster bubble of immunity and entitlement that allows for the wandering around blind drunk and yelling at 2 AM while pissing on cars, vomiting on doorsteps, and driving drunk through the narrow streets, then maybe some good will come out of it — this isn’t city-walk or suburbia and bad things can happen — even to boys with beards and PBR stains on their shirts. I pray the victims recover quickly and that the Echo doesn’t suffer unduly from this event. BTW, I am a strong supporter of those who are in the area because they think it’s an urban playground moving to Hollywood, though.
Chris – based on the description of the suspect/incident and the type of event taking place at the Echo last night (a Warlocks show), I would hazard a guess that it’s more like hipster-on-hipster violence than anti-gentrification backlash. As others have said, things like this can and do happen anywhere (i.e., the father and son killed at a Del Taco in San Bernardino recently).
heard the biker was wearing hells angels gear? and the band playing was called “the warlocks”… horribly misdirected bike gang violence ? ?
the echo an the rest of the new music/bar enclaves that have ‘gentrified’ the area have turned what was once a culturally rich working class neighborhood into a piss pot drunken mayhem.
Black Harley Davidson? Maybe it was a disgruntled musician who couldn’t get his hair metal band booked for the weekly shoe-gazer night.
On the whole I like the area and generally feel that it is ‘transitioning’ in a healthy direction but this sort of violence that occurs more often I would expect. Just not worth it to me. However this sort of thing keeps the rents down!
There has been more and more sketchy things happening in that area of Sunset. A few weeks ago I saw some guy get stabbed 3+ times on the corner of Sunset and Echo Park, (the second time I’ve seen someone get stabbed in Echo Park) and few months ago some crazy banger got out of his car at a stop light on Sunset & Echo Park and fired a round into the air because my female friend wouldn’t give him the time of day when he was hollering at her. It’s getting crazy over there and makes me think twice before going out in that area.
Luke- That seems like a MEGA stretch. M E G A
Echo Park was much safer before all of the hipster clubs moved in. I have been scared to walk in my own neighborhood for the last 4 years.
Why you ask? Because the last time I did I witnessed an accident on the corner of Echo Park and Sunset at 1:30 am. A car ran a red light and broad sided another car. When the young white girl got out from behind the wheel of the car that ran the light she proclaimed to her friend “Oh no, I’m drunk. What am I going to do?” Both cars were completely wrecked- but no one was too injured. We decided to wait for the police since we were 2 of 4 witnesses. When the police got there we said we were witnesses and that the girl had said she was drunk. The police didn’t want to hear it and told us to go away and started hassling the two older women in the other car. Did I happen to mention the victims were Mexican?.
The police didn’t even WANT witnesses.
And then people wonder why these assholes leave the clubs drunk and barf and piss all over everything. If you treat them like entitled whiteys I guess they’re gonna act like it.
Thanks cops.
Nothing like you guys in the peanut gallery throwing out random and unverified stats, facts and accounts. It’s hard to know what to believe. And Constantine, maybe you’ll get caught in the crossfire sometime soon. But hey, it’ll make the rents go down.
Constatine –
I could not have put it better myself.
Echo Park is safer that it has ever been. Ever. Ever. But if it is still not safe enough for you because it is a dense urban area and it still has urban problems, then you should not hesitate to move to Santa Monica. You will not be immune from random violence in Santa Monica, but the urban problems will be lessened. So, you have options and you should live in a place that suits you. Echo Park is not for every one.
I go to the Echo all the time and will continue to. I’ve never seen or been exposed to any violence or belligerence (nor have I ever seen people pissing on cars or vomiting on doorsteps, for that matter!). This seems completely isolated and random. I remember a shooting in Old Town Pasadena a couple of years ago, during the day, I think. This kind of stupid craziness can happen anywhere.
By the way, a big thank you to Lt. Buhrmester for taking the time to post on this blog and provide information related to the incident and to help quell idle speculation. Good luck catching the guy and please keep us posted.
I heard from someone who was there that it was related to some Hell’s Angel members who were there to see the Warlocks play, which fits with the new description of the suspect as wearing a Hell’s Angels jacket.
That’s not the typical type of patron for the Echo, but it’s certainly a group that is no stranger to violence.
Its the same violence in the same way that has been there forever, everyone i know is aware of it, and they were probably aware when they moved to echo park, I know I was aware.
LA has always been associated with gangs & crazy people with guns, the assumption that someone was mad enough with ‘hipsters,’ to shoot them is absurd to me, and I cant imagine anyone who is a warlocks fan being in the mongols, but I also will never understand that specific weird machismo that tends to come along with motorcycles. That same logic could apply to a Morrissey show, however those have been riddled with violence in LA for ages.
Its the hood ppl, it always has been, and the violent crime numbers are lower than ever if I read the charts correctly. So that leads me to say, the LAPD is doing their job to the best of their ability there, and I congratulate them on a job well done in that respect.
I used to live in lincoln heights and it was always tagged with such gems as “COME TO THE KILL ZONE,” & tons of other kill orders on walls all over the place, along with gunshots you could hear weekly. So consider yourselves lucky, all you beardo hipsters in EP.
Well if it’s groundless speculation time here in commentland, I’ve got a groundless speculation to top ‘em all!
The victims were the local distributors for a biker gang, peddling their “crank” to the neighborhood hipsters, giving them the pep they need for their all-night jazz parties. But the bikers have become unsatisfied with their middlemen, and come to take direct control of the market – BY FORCE!
HOWEVER! Unbeknownst to them, in coffeeshop corner booths and dark smoking patios, the hipsters have been gathering under the banner of Freemasonry! Arming themselves with vintage derringers and repeating rifles, they vow to defend their society against the interlopers!
As tensions escalate and police coverage recedes in the face of apocalypse deficits, the conflict explodes into the open. ANARCHY IN THE STREETS! Biker on hipster, hipster on biker! Harleys against mopeds, leather jackets against slightly more vintage leather jackets!
WHO WILL BE THE WINNER?
How’s that?
Crime in echo park and other neighborhoods happens all the time. People just don’t know it. There is plenty of stuff going down by the lake on Glendale, right next to the echoplex. I guess people are surprised that it moved a few buildings over. Not even to mention the area by Temple.
Seriosly, unless you want to live in Santa Monica, you’ll have to deal with this. It’s still way safer than Hollywood or Highland Park area.
John — Keep your tired “Beirut-as-war-zone” analogy to yourself. It’s a cliche and if you’ve never been to the country you’d be surprised how crime-free and (relatively) peaceful it is most of the timme. I should know; I’ve been to Lebanon four times and I’m heading there June 27th for two weeks.
The shooter was not a Hell’s Angel. There were a couple of Hell’s Angels at the show, but they were cool and mellow and didn’t cause any trouble. I’m told from a witness that the shooter was shooting AT the Hell’s Angels, most likely from a rival gang, like the Mongols or something.
The Warlocks are a gentle hypnotic psych band with no ties or affiliation to any biker gangs. This is an isolated incident and absolutely not typical of a Warlocks show. This is a situation of wrong place/wrong time for Warlocks fans who happened to be leaving a club while two rival biker gangs decided to hash out their grievances on the street nearby.
As long as we have people protecting us from stereotypes about war torn regions of the world, we’ll all be ok.
At this point I would almost consider that stretch of Sunset and the blocks right off of it as a commercial/party drag strip from around 10pm until 2:30 am 7 days a week that has its own thing going on (for better or worse) and is not a reflection on Echo Park as a community. The Echo has a LOT to do with that. Unfortunately for me, I live right off that strip. Something fucked up like this happens about once a year, and this is bad. The randomness of it makes it scary in like a serial-killer type way, but worse has happened and will happen. It’s just somehow easier to wrap your mind around it if it’s gang-related (even when it’s dead 4 year olds, I guess). If anything, this incident might make you afraid to be on Sunset at 2:30 in the morning, which is a fairly healthy fear.
Oh, blogosphere.
This type of violence, unfortunately, is not random in Echo Park and Silverlake (S. of Sunset usually). Someone that I know was attacked on Sunset (near the Echo) by several men not too long ago. They did not steal the money that he had in his pocket, but proceeded to break his leg in several locations while beating him up against the curb. It is possible that this is a hate crime. The men who did this were not caught and now three people get shot outside of the Echo. There are many more incidents that have occurred, that we just don’t hear about. The recent surge in violent crime in our area seems to coincide with all of the people (not all non-violent) that are being let out of our jails and prisons….for the sake of balancing the state and local budgets, of course.
The Echo/Echoplex is my favorite club in L.A.. It is also a great asset to the neighborhood. For you ‘hipster’ haters that are leaving nasty comments about the ‘rough and tumble’ musician crowd, ask yourself this: How dangerous would the neighborhood be if it were not there?
The best line of defense for those of us who live and play in the neighborhood is to walk in groups at night and to be really aware of our surroundings. We could also contact our elected representatives to let them know that we do not take kindly to the dumping of violent criminals back onto our streets. Tell them to make the bureaucrats to do their research before they let someone out of prison. Public safety shouldn’t be downgraded for the sake of balancing the budget.
Great, just what we need. More guns.
Don’t tread on me…
James, thanks for the sensitivity training and for putting sinister inferences where there are none. I’m well-aware that it’s a great city and since it’s not 2008 anymore I’d be happy to go there and sunbathe right now.
I was there. Definitely Hell’s Angeles related. The target was one, and was there to see the show.
I have decided after reading comments on this blog for the last several weeks that hipster bashing has officially JUMPED the SHARK. I love hipsters and will un-ironically praise them from here on out. Thank you and good afternoon.
Yes please do move back to the WEST SIDE!
I ride a bike and sometimes a motorcycle and am far more legitimately worried about the constant stream of after midnight drunk drivers on and near Sunset in Echo Park. I’ve almost gotten hit many times. That’s a real problem and one worth addressing. This is just a scary but inevitable event. Random crime happens everywhere.
Sadly gun violence is not a new thing in EP, or anywhere in northeastern LA for that matter.
Its odd that it happened in front of The Echo, but considering how many shootings have occurred in the past – for instance on Sunset Blvd, in broad daylight – you have to acknowledge that its a part of living here. And its probably not going away completely anytime soon.
jos has a point. We fret about some random violence but really we are FAR more likely to die or get seriously hurt in a car accident yet we think nothing of that.
To heck with all of it. Life is too short and interesting to live inside a bubble. It’s folly to plan your life around the worst possible outcomes. That’s why I’ll be at the Echo next week, loitering outside, noshing on a tamale. Heck, I’ll ride my bike there. If you want to talk about how wonderful the weather is in Beirut, come on down!
In any case I’m glad the good discussion here outweighs the inevitable shrill banshee wails of fear and hipster self-hate (talk about cliche).
And yeah, it seems a little weird that Hells Angels would be at a noodling psych-rock show, but then again, THE foundational noodling psych-rockers, the Grateful Dead (original name: The Warlocks) had a pretty strong Hells Angels following too.
STOP FREEMASONRY!
greg if by “good clean fun” you mean fags in love and dorks on coke…i certainly agree….harmless folk really. I bet it was a pissed off ex-doorman…those dudes have to put up with some shit.
this type of stuff happens all the time. Last weds. my friends & I got a knife pulled on us right outside of the shortstop bar 2blocks from the echo. there is always drunken drama when the bars close to some extent. its crazy, i was suppose to go to the echo last night but my ride bailed on me huh? it would have been interesting to witness, but oh well fuck it!
*hope victims recover quick & are back partying in ep soon!
Hell’s Angels jacket?
Well I’m no FOX TV investigative journalist or LAPD officer..so what do I know,
but I might look into the connection that the band playing that night was The Warlocks,
which also happens to be the name of a rival motorcycle gang.
This would fit The Mongols MO far more than the Angels. Those lops will take anyone.
Hipsters. Ha.
Pretty much ever since humans began to use their eyeballs and started wearing clothes instead of running around the bush naked, they’ve adopted the look of the artists, tribal leaders, great hunters, performers, public figures, athletes, etc. they admired as best they could.
if you have a problem with that, you should probably remove yourself from society and live in a monastery or convent. Oh crap—then you’d still be hanging out with a group of like-minded individuals. y I mean you’d probably talk amongst yourselves less and wake up and go to bed earlier than your average echo park “hipster,” but you’d still be wearing the same clothes and hanging around the same places and you’d be jesus’ biggest fan instead of the warlocks’.
There was a Hell’s Angel in attendance. The gunman was not a Hell’s Angel. The Hell’s Angel appeared to had left the scene prior to the shooting even starting.
The gunman had a motorcycle helmut on and yelled “die mother f*ckers” and shot randomly to the right of the front door first then directly into the club. He appeared to have dark skinned hands and a gun that resembled a thick barreled Glock. His motorcycle did not appear to be a Harley as some have mentioned. It had no visible markings of make. He did not have any insignias written on the back of his leather jacket.
We should all be focusing on the patron who is still hospitalized, if anyone knows his whereabouts or condition, please post so we can send our regards.
Pop- Said this earlier, and I’ll reiterate; that is the most ridiculous conclusion possible. Just absolutely absurd.
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