Los Angeles County law enforcement recruit dies 8 months after group of trainees were struck by wrong-way driver while on a training run

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department recruit died eight months after he was struck by a driver who hit around two dozen recruits on a training run in Whittier, California, according to authorities.

Alejandro Martinez, 27, died Friday at the Ronald Reagan University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center surrounded by friends, family, and members of the sheriff's department after months of fighting for his life, according to a statement from the department.

"Today, Alejandro succumbed to his injuries," the sheriff's department said in an online statement. "Tragically, he was not able to fulfill his calling of helping others."

Martinez was on a training run with around 75 other recruits the morning of November 16, 2022, when an SUV drove into the group. Twenty-five of the recruits suffered injuries, with five initially listed in critical condition.

The driver, 22-year-old Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez, was driving the wrong way when the incident occurred, according to the sheriff's department. He showed no signs of impairment and blew a zero in a Breathalyzer test administered after the incident.

He was alone in the vehicle at the time of the crash, the sheriff's department told CNN.

"It looked like an airplane wreck - so many bodies scattered everywhere in different states of injury," Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a news conference after the crash. "It was pretty traumatic for all individuals."