LOS ANGELES
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A gunman who wounded five children and three adults at a South Los Angeles bus stop was aiming at a specific person and wound up shooting bystanders, police said Thursday.
"There was a target," Capt. Rigo Romero said.
No one has been arrested but investigators had "promising leads," he said.
Earlier, police said they were confident the gunman would be quickly caught because there were many witnesses. Romero said more than 100 people were at the intersection.
Armed with a semiautomatic handgun, the man opened fire around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday at a busy intersection filled with shoppers, motorists and students.
The man fired as many as 15 rounds, witnesses said, but apparently missed his target. Two of the victims ran away and were found outside a nearby middle school, police Officer Sara Faden said.
The gunman ran away after firing the shots, she said.
Four people were critically wounded, including girls ages 10, 11 and 12 and a 49-year-old woman, Fire Department spokeswoman d'Lisa Davies said.
A 12-year-old girl, 14-year-old boy, and men ages 48 and 68 suffered minor injuries and were treated at hospitals, Davies said. All were expected to recover, police Lt. Ruben De La Torre said.
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