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β€˜Like an Explosion': Car Plows Through Torrance Planet Fitness, Striking People

The car made it all the way to the back wall of the gym with a person on the hood of the Lexus.

Four people were hurt β€” including one person who had to be pulled off the hood of the car β€” after a vehicle plowed into a Torrance Planet Fitness Wednesday, striking people inside the gym, the fire department said.

The four victims were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, according to police. 

Witnesses in the back of the gym watched in horror as the black Lexus crashed through the front of the gym at 20040 Hawthorne Boulevard. A witness said the car hit people as they worked out on machines.

"I hear lots of screaming, and see lots of glass everywhere," Emmanuel Diaz, witness, said. "Everyone's screaming, shaking, running."

Police said a woman over the age of 65 was driving through the parking lot when her car went into the building. The driver made it all the way to the back wall of the gym with a person on the hood of the Lexus. Two were bleeding as the gurney wheeled them to the ambulance to take them to the hospital.

Witnesses said it sounded like an "explosion."

"We saw the lady come out of the car, confused," Jossue Carrillo, witness, said. "Like, 'What happened? What did I do?'"

While there was speculation that the driver hit the accelerator instead of the brakes, Torrance police could not confirm that as the cause of the crash.

The driver was not issued a citation but police said that could change as the investigation continues.

A Planet Fitness representative said in a statement the company was working with local authorities during the investigation. The gym is temporarily closed and will reopen as soon as possible, the statement said. 

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