Fumes From Tear-Gas Cloud Send 38 to Hospital

At least 38 people, ranging in age from 4 to 60, required hospital treatment Friday night when a man threw a tear-gas canister into a street in Pomona’s main commercial district, sending a 3,000-square-foot gas cloud over a nearby residential neighborhood, authorities said.

One person, a 19-year-old man, was in critical condition in an intensive care ward and two others remained hospitalized after inhaling fumes from the canister, which exploded on the 600 block of South Garey Avenue. Other victims were treated and released, said Pomona Fire Capt. Russ Bohse.

“The cloud blew about a block into the 600 block of Locust Street where people were barbecuing, talking, eating supper and playing ball and all of the things people do on a residential street around 6 p. m.,” Bohse said.

Police said they were searching for a suspect who threw the military-issue canister. “We have not been unable to determine a motive for throwing it, unless he didn’t know what it was,” Boshe said.