LOS ANGELES _ Two pedestrians were killed Thursday evening after they were struck by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department vehicle that was involved in a crash while responding to a radio call of shots fired, authorities said.
Three other pedestrians were injured and taken to a hospital for treatment, though details on their conditions were not available, said Los Angeles Police Officer Tony Im. Two deputies were also taken to a hospital.
As of Friday morning police authorities did not release the identities or ages of the victims, or provide more details about the sequence of events leading to the fatal crash. The LAPD is handling the investigation, authorities said.
"It's still very active and being investigated at this time," said Officer Drake Madison, an LAPD spokesman.
The three-car crash occurred about 7:30 p.m. in the 800 block of South Indiana Street in Boyle Heights. The impact thrust the sheriff's vehicle onto the sidewalk, where the five pedestrians were struck, authorities said.
One person was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other died at a hospital. Authorities did not name the dead, saying their families had not yet been notified. KABC-TV Channel 7 reported that the two people killed were juveniles.
The drivers of the two other vehicles remained at the scene. They were not injured.
The collision comes less than a week after an 11-year-old girl was killed about a mile away when she was struck by a car while standing by a taco truck. Three others were struck and injured that night, but were expected to survive.
The driver in that incident, Jose Louis Perez, was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, while a juvenile in the car with him was arrested on suspicion of possessing nitrous oxide, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Perez was heading west on Whittier Boulevard near Marietta Street when he crossed into eastbound lanes and crashed into the two parked cars, police said.
The impact thrust one of the cars onto the sidewalk, where it struck the pedestrians.
(Times reporter Sonali Kohli contributed to this story.)
