A 25-year-old man was shot in the face at point-blank range early Wednesday as he waited for his employer on a downtown Los Angeles sidewalk, police said.

The man was hospitalized in serious condition after suffering a gunshot wound to the jaw in the 6:20 a.m. shooting on Pico Boulevard between Main and Los Angeles streets, said Lt. Paul Vernon of the Los Angeles Police Department. The attacker then looked through the man's pockets before running off.

Investigators were seeking to interview a young Latino man wearing a baseball cap and a white shirt with gray writing -- similar to an "Ed Hardy-style shirt" -- who was seen in the area by Business Improvement District security officers, Vernon said.

At the time of the shooting, the man was seen in the area removing a green shirt from around his neck, wiping his face with it and running, Vernon said.