Violence, Damage In LA After Rams Win Super Bowl

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Some celebrations turned violent and destructive following the Los Angeles Rams thrilling win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI Sunday night.

Large crowds gathered in downtown L.A., surrounding passing vehicles, setting off fireworks, climbing signs and shutting down streets.

Los Angeles police went into a tactical alert and several off-ramps from the 110 Freeway were closed.

"We are seeing violent and destructive behavior by large crowds in the heart of the downtown L.A. area," the LAPD tweeted a little after 10:30 p.m.

Police issued a dispersal order to a group at 11th and Hope streets.

At one point, a group climbed onto an empty Metro bus and tagged it with graffiti, one of two busses that were vandalized. They also surrounded passing vehicles and shook them as they tried to drive by.

Burglars were also caught on video breaking into a jewelry store, shattering the door and counters. The owner told CBSLA that jewelry was stolen. At Broadway and 5th Street, a group broke into the Hyperstore. There was no immediate word on losses or damage.

At the intersection of Figueroa and 11 streets, officers came upon a car doing donuts. Officers pulled it over and found a loaded handgun inside. A suspect was arrested, police said.

As of early Monday morning, there were no serious injuries from any of the downtown activity.

In total, 19 locations were vandalized, police said. Investigators are expected to review surveillance video over the coming days in an effort to identify suspects. It's unclear exactly how many arrests were made.

Police noted to CBSLA that the crowds were smaller than they were in 2020, when both the Lakers won the NBA title and the Dodgers won the World Series.

Meanwhile, one person was wounded in a car-to-car shooting in East Los Angeles just before 9 p.m. It's unclear if the shooting was related to the Super Bowl celebration.

The shooting occurred in the area of Atlantic and Whittier boulevards. The victim's injuries were non-life-threatening, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. The circumstances were unclear. Sky2 was over the scene as the victim was loaded into an ambulance.