Gunfire erupts on bustling street in North Hollywood Arts District

A woman was injured when gunfire erupted Monday night on a bustling street lined with bars and restaurants in the North Hollywood Arts District. 

The terrifying ordeal unfolded at around 8 p.m. on Magnolia Avenue between Lankershim Boulevard and Vineland Avenue, outside The Fat Dog Bar and Restaurant where a patio full of customers were dining.  

In surveillance footage of the incident, a barrage of gunfire, a single shot followed by at least a dozen others can be heard.  

A couple on the sidewalk are seen ducking, clinging to one another and running for cover.  

The female victim, who has yet to be identified, was shot in the leg. It’s unclear if she was a customer at The Fat Dog.  

Personnel with the Los Angeles police and fire departments responded to the scene and located the woman, who was conscious and breathing, authorities said. She was taken to a nearby hospital by paramedics.  

Her condition was not immediately available.  

“I think about 18 shots were fired on Magnolia Avenue,” David Chalem, who works a few doors over at DMC Real Estate, said. “It wasn’t one or two in the morning. It was 8 p.m.”  

Chalem told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff that in the last two years, criminal activity has increased along this once safe street of bars, restaurants, theaters and vintage shops.  

“We’ve been here so long, and we always felt at least practically safe,” he explained. “But after something like that, we had a long discussion today about potentially leaving the spot.”  

Aimee Conn was working across the street at the Cheba Hut and documented some of the harrowing experience.  

“It was mayhem. Everybody started running different places and we didn’t know if it was a mass shooter or actually a drive-by,” she said. “I’ve lived 20 years in L.A., and I have never experienced that before, never in this neighborhood.  

When she saw the active crime scene, Conn said she immediately thought of her friend, actor Johnny Wactor, who was shot and killed on May 25 in downtown L.A. after a bartending shift.  

“This shouldn’t have happened,” Conn said. “It was preventable. What are we going to do about it? What’s the solution, together?” 

Police are looking into the possibility that the shooting was the work of two gunmen who fled on foot and possibly got into a white BMW SUV that fled the scene.  

Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to contact the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood Division.  

Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-222-8477 or leave tips online at www.lacrimestoppers.org.  

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