By 3Narratives News
Published: July 20, 2025
“He Just Drove Through Us”
At 2:00 a.m. on July 19, outside a nightclub in East Hollywood, a scene of joy collapsed into carnage. Witnesses say a man, recently ejected from the venue, returned moments later with a Nissan Versa and drove full-speed into a crowd of unsuspecting people.
“He didn’t even brake,” said Isaac Campos, a 24-year-old bartender who had just stepped out for a cigarette. “He just drove through us.”
The driver, 29-year-old Fernando Ramirez, was reportedly tackled by bystanders and then shot during the altercation. Thirty people were injured—seven critically. The scene became an impromptu field hospital. “I was pressing towels into a stranger’s leg,” said clubgoer Melanie Tran. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
Police have not ruled out mental illness. But the violence was intentional. It was, in the chilling words now familiar in headlines across the world, a vehicle ramming.
A Deadly Trend With Global Reach
July’s East Hollywood tragedy was not an isolated incident. Just a month and a half earlier, in Vancouver, 33-year-old Kai-Ji Adam Lo drove an Audi Q7 into a Filipino cultural celebration on Fraser Street, killing 11 people and injuring over 30. Lo had previous contact with mental health services and was released just hours before the attack.
“It was preventable,” said Vancouver city councillor Anika Menon. “There were red flags, and we missed them.”
From Paris to Berlin, Toronto to New Orleans, a new form of domestic and ideological violence is growing. A vehicle—common, accessible, often unmonitored—has become the weapon of choice for the desperate, disturbed, and radicalized.
From Terror to Tragedy: When Did It Begin?
The first documented vehicular mass attack occurred in Taipei in 1964. A bus driver plowed into pedestrians, killing 19. In 1973, a woman in Prague repeated the horror. But the modern wave began in 2014.
That year, during a surge in lone-wolf attacks across Europe and the Middle East, terrorist organizations began explicitly advocating for vehicle-based violence. ISIS propaganda encouraged followers to “run over them with your car.” The tactic was low-cost, high-impact, and difficult to predict.
“A vehicle is the perfect weapon,” said Dr. Nora Leclair, a counterterrorism analyst. “It’s not illegal to own, it doesn’t raise red flags, and it can cause devastating loss of life.”
By 2017, the world had witnessed attacks in Nice (86 dead), Berlin (12 dead), London (Finsbury Park, 1 dead), and New York (Hudson River bike path, 8 dead). The strategy had gone viral.
The Numbers Tell a Grim Story
A study by West Point’s Counterterrorism Center found:
- Between 2014–2025, 18 major ramming incidents occurred globally, killing over 220 people.
- More than 667 injured in that same period.
- 83% of incidents were linked to extremist ideology (Islamist or far-right).
- Others were traced to mental health breakdowns or personal grievances.
An earlier Washington Post review tallied 184 such attacks since the 1960s, half involving mentally unstable individuals. But frequency has increased markedly since 2014—especially in Western cities.
From Protest to Weapon
Not all vehicle attacks are acts of terror. Some, like the Waukesha, Wisconsin Christmas Parade attack in 2021, had no ideological motive. Others, like the Finsbury Park Mosque ramming in London, were fueled by hatred.
“I want to kill all Muslims,” shouted attacker Darren Osborne during his arrest in June 2017.
In the U.S., the FBI warned in January 2025 that “vehicle-based attacks remain among the most likely and least preventable methods of mass harm.” After a similar tragedy in New Orleans earlier this year, officials feared copycats.
“You can’t ban cars,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “But we have to start treating them as potential weapons.”
The Invisible Barrier
Why does this trend continue? Partly because public events remain vulnerable.
- Most parades and festivals in North America still lack physical barriers.
- Nightlife districts, like Hollywood Boulevard, are open-access zones.
- Vehicle rental platforms have no centralized threat detection system.
Add to that rising urban mental health crises, social isolation, and online extremism, and the equation becomes volatile.
“Every city is one bad decision away from a mass-casualty event,” says retired LAPD Chief Sandra Mendoza.
Two Roads Diverged: Control vs. Understanding
Society is now faced with two starkly different responses.
Narrative One: Control the Threat
One school of thought sees the solution in early detection, proactive control, and hard security measures.
“We can’t keep acting surprised,” says Brian Winters, former NYPD Commissioner. “This isn’t new. It’s just ignored.”
Policy suggestions include:
- Mental Health Flags: More aggressive holds for individuals identified as high-risk.
- Rental Surveillance: Real-time alerts to law enforcement from rental agencies.
- Urban Design: Mandatory vehicle barriers for large public events.
- Inter-agency Databases: Real-time coordination between police, hospitals, and transit.
Supporters argue these are necessary sacrifices to prevent carnage.
“We check bags at concerts. Why not cars at festivals?” said Toronto security advisor Marwan Badr.
Critics, however, warn that this path invites mass surveillance, infringes on civil liberties, and may further stigmatize vulnerable populations.
Narrative Two: Understand the Boiling Point
Others say we must look deeper—to the psyche, not the perimeter.
“We have armored our streets,” says Dr. Rachel Morillo, a forensic psychologist. “But we’ve neglected the storm inside.”
This narrative suggests the rise in ramming attacks is symptomatic, not random. Behind the wheel, often, is a man unraveling—lonely, furious, untreated.
“People aren’t born attackers,” says Morillo. “They are created by isolation, economic despair, untreated trauma, ideological poisoning.”
What this response would require:
- Increased investment in mental health outreach and early-intervention clinics.
- Community-based de-escalation training for police and event staff.
- Universal access to psychiatric care without stigma or fear of legal repercussion.
- Research into anger and alienation as public health indicators—not just personal failings.
Critics of this view say it’s naïve. But supporters insist that prevention means building lives that don’t erupt at midnight on city sidewalks.
“We Were Just Dancing”
Back on Vermont Avenue, police tape still flutters near the curb. A wilted bouquet lies beside a pair of shattered heels.
“We were just dancing,” said Melanie Tran, who suffered minor injuries in Saturday’s LA attack. “Then we were running for our lives.”
Society has learned to scan for gunmen. But are we ready to recognize the next attack might arrive on four wheels?
The road, once a symbol of mobility, is now a vulnerability. And how we choose to respond—to harden the barricades or soften the soul—will shape what kind of future we drive toward.
A New Kind of Terror
Not all who ram are terrorists. But all who ram terrorize. They shatter the illusion of safety in our most cherished spaces—parades, festivals, sidewalks, and nightlife.
The question is no longer if another attack will happen. It’s when. And whether we’ll be ready.
As clubgoer Melanie Tran said, wiping blood from her arm outside the LA nightclub:
“We live in a world now where you could be dancing one minute—and dodging a car the next.”
FAQ Section & Answer Snippets
- Q: What is a vehicle-ramming attack?
A: A vehicle-ramming attack is when a person deliberately drives a vehicle into a crowd to cause harm… - Q: Why are ramming attacks growing?
A: Because vehicles are easily accessible and low-risk, and because of rising ideological and mental-health pressures…
