The story says the driver got out and the imam stopped muslims from attacking him.
I looked at a couple ‘recent’ reports online (via google news search). Washington Post, CNN, and Daily Mail.
Some details are starting to emerge.
An elderly man collapsed prior to the attack. It’s unclear if he was collapsed because of the heat or a health condition. He was being attended to when the driver struck. Apparently he died afterwards. It’s still unclear whether he was hit in the incident.
I’ve seen no further remarks reported about “knives” at the scene and while one report indicates there may have been 2 passengers who fled the scene, I didn’t see any reference to them attacking those on the street.
I’ve seen it reported as a rental van (and in some incidents vehicles have been stolen). The name of the company on the van has been released, the owner of the company refused to talk to the media.
Video from the scene of the attack is circulating. Daily Mail has some links to footage.
Daily Mail said that police responded to the scene in 8 minutes, an iman or someone said that he had to hold the driver for 30 minutes.
The mosque reportedly was a former hotbed for extremism but reports also say that has ended over a decade ago.
Nothing would justify vigilantism.