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WILLOWBROOK (CNS) - Five people were rushed to area trauma centers after a shooting aboard a Metro train on its way to the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station, authorities said today.
The conditions, ages and genders of the injured people were not immediately known, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Detectives were searching for suspects, Deputy Armando Viera Jr. of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told City News Service. A suspect description was not released.
``The investigation is in its early stages and is still evolving,'' Viera said.
The shooting was reported at about 7:40 p.m. Friday. An argument broke out as the eastbound C (Green) Line train left the Avalon Station in South Los Angeles, a passenger told ABC7, and the shooting occurred before the train reached the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station.
``There was a big argument and I saw the gun come out and he started firing into a bunch of people,'' witness Andrew Maynard told Fox11.
``He started shooting again. I don't know if there was another gun or he reloaded it. I crouched down and as the guy ran towards me they shot him but it only shot him in the leg.''
Maynard told Fox11 ``there was probably 20 people in a 10-foot area.''
``It was pandemonium, complete pandemonium,'' he said.
Maynard identified himself to Fox11 as a Vietnam veteran who was shaken up by the shooting, including having a victim falling at his feet.
The suspects ran out of the train after the doors opened at the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station, Fox11 reported.
A Los Angeles Police Department patrol car rushing to the station to provide backup for sheriff's deputies was involved in a collision at approximately 8 p.m. in the 10600 block of South Central Avenue, an LAPD spokesman confirmed.
Two LAPD officers, two other adults, three juveniles and a toddler suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash, police said.