Los Angeles driver charged with triple murder after fatal metro station crash

A 61-year-old driver of a minivan who killed three people and critically injured two others after crashing into a metro station has been arrested on murder charges, police announced Wednesday. The minivan crashed into people outside of a North Hollywood metro station in Los Angeles, California, during rush hour on Tuesday, just before 6 p.m.Police identified the driver as Ihor Demianenko, a resident of the Valley Village neighborhood, Officer Norma Eisenman said. Eisenman was not aware of whether Demianenko was still in the hospital at the time of the press conference. On Tuesday night, the minivan was still on the sidewalk, surrounded by debris with its driver’s side door left open and an airbag deployed.One entrance to the metro remained closed Tuesday night (AP)Fire engines and emergency crews worked nearby as a helicopter flew overhead.Los Angeles Police Captain Warner Castillo said officials were not immediately able to determine the cause of the crash.“We don’t know if this was done intentionally [or] if it was done by accident,” Castillo said at a news conference. LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said investigators will now go through video footage of the crash frame by frame. “It will probably be a prolonged but very deliberate investigation to determine what happened here,” he said. Los Angeles Car Into Pedestrians (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)Luis Luna-Guzman was working at a burger stand nearby when he heard a loud boom and saw people on the ground along with food and cups. People nearby started running toward the crash.As he moved closer, he found an injured woman lying near the bike racks, her face, arms and legs bloody; he said, recalling that her eyes were closed as she moaned in pain.“I told her, ‘Don’t move, help is coming,’” Luna-Guzman said, adding that he saw a woman's body nearby, while another woman was lying unmoving on the stairs leading to the station.One entrance to the metro remained closed Tuesday night, but otherwise the property was not impacted, and the stations for the bus and subway were open, according to Jose Ubaldo, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.