Bloody swastikas and bloody footprints were found outside a bathroom in a park often used by Orthodox Jews in Los Angeles.
By World Israel News Staff
Los Angeles police said they were searching for an injured man Monday after a trail of blood and what appeared to be bloody swastikas were discovered near the city’s Holocaust museum, according to several Southern California media reports.
The blood spatter was discovered Monday morning at a bathroom in Pan-Pacific Park in the city’s Fairfax District, not far from the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, KABC reports. Police said the situation is being treated as a potential hate crime, according to the TV station.
Police said they’re reviewing surveillance camera footage and cordoned the area off as bloodhounds hunted for a possibly injured person, KABC reports.
Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Tony Im said the blood was discovered about 6:40 a.m., KTLA reports. The TV station said video footage captured from the air showed symbols including swastikas painted in blood on a cement wall near a playground.
“There was a large amount of blood in the bathroom,” Im said, according to Patch. “The swastikas appear to have been done with blood, and they were about 12 inches by 12 inches.”
The swastikas were found outside the restroom, CBSLA reports.
Meghan Aguilar, a Los Angeles detective, said it’s possible someone was hurt in the incident, according to KTLA.
“Perhaps they were injured, self-inflicted or accidentally injured,” Aguilar said, according to the TV station. “This is an area where we do have some homeless people that will come and sleep overnight so we’re obviously talking to that group to try and identify who’s injured or what happened.”
The different media reports were compiled by the California-based McClatchy newspaper chain.