Police Release Video in Hunt for Calif. Molotov Cocktail Attacker

Police were searching for clues to who might have thrown a Molotov cocktail at a man outside a Long Beach market

Police are searching for the man whose brazen Molotov cocktail attack outside a busy southern California market set his victim on fire, leaving him gravely burned.

They released surveillance video Sunday of the horrifying attack in the hopes of tracking down the person responsible for tossing the firebomb Friday night, NBC 4 Southern California reported.

The victim, in his 50s, was hospitalized with burns from the waist down after a man, believed to be in his late 20s, launched the lighted bottle at him he sat outside the busy El Paisano Ranch Market in Long Beach, said Long Beach Police Sgt. Aaron Eaton.

Eaton said the victim was sitting outside the market, minding his own business and waiting for his father to get food, when the suspect came from an alley and attacked.

The surveillance video shows a ball of fire explode as the bottle hits the ground, barely missing a mother with a baby in a stroller. A man runs from the scene through the parking lot, where others can be seen trying to put out the flames.

The firebombing victim was taken to the hospital, where he was in serious condition, medically sedated, with serious burns to the lower part of his body, his hands and his face, police said. He was not being identified due to concerns about his safety.

Police said it didnโ€™t appear the victim and suspect knew each other, and the case is likely not gang-related.

Anyone with more information about the crime was urged to call police at (562) 570-7260.

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