2 killed in LA after gun thrown out of window leads to police chase

Two people were killed when a minivan led police on a short chase and then crashed into a bus Sunday morning in Los Angeles.

Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department were on patrol around 5:11 a.m. Sunday when they saw someone throw a gun out of a green minivan near Central Avenue and the 10 freeway. The minivan, which was carrying four passengers, tried to flee the area, so police chased after it.

“The pursuit continued for approximately one to two minutes, so it was a short pursuit,” Sgt. Hector Guzman with LAPD told USA TODAY Monday. 

The chase ended near 17th and Main streets when the minivan crashed into a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus.

Paramedics from the Los Angeles Fire Department were called but hadn’t arrived yet, so officers tried to help the people in the minivan who were injured.

“As a result of the violent crash, two occupants inside the minivan died,” Guzman said, adding that one person in the van died at the scene and another later died at the hospital.

The two individuals who died have not yet been publicly identified as of Monday afternoon.

Police were able to recover the gun that was thrown from the minivan, setting off the chase.

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Driver hasn’t been charged yet, police say

The two other occupants in the minivan, one of which was the driver, were both injured and taken to a local hospital with injuries. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening, Guzman said.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Guzman, from LAPD, said the person driving the minivan will be charged once the individual is done being treated at the hospital. Once the driver is released from the hospital, they’ll be booked into jail.

He did not say what charges the driver will face.

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