One dead, nine injured in apparent hit-and-run spree
By JULIANA BARBASSA, The Associated Press
Aug 29, 2006 5:56 PM (1 hr 31 mins ago)
Current rank: # 22 of 6,478 articles
SAN FRANCISCO - One person was killed and at least nine injured when a man intentionally targeted pedestrians with his sport utility vehicle on both sides of San Francisco Bay, according to police.
The driver was in police custody. His name was not immediately released, but Department of Motor Vehicles records show the license plate on the SUV is registered to Omeed A. Popal of Fremont.
The spree apparently began around noon in Fremont, where the driver hit an unidentified man walking along the side of the road. He was thrown into a field and pronounced dead at the scene, Sgt. Chris Mazzone of the Fremont police said.
Witnesses said the driver did not slow down.
The driver then crossed the bay into San Francisco, where he injured at least nine people in a series of incidents spanning several neighborhoods, San Francisco police said.
The SUV finally came to rest in the city's Richmond district. The black Honda Pilot was in the middle of the street, its front end and windshield smashed in.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that eight people were hospitalized, including a child whose age was not available. Three were in critical condition and five in serious condition.
An aide to Mayor Gavin Newsom said some of the injured were pedestrians and some were motorists.
The suspect was being interviewed by police, and investigators in Fremont were interviewing his family.
Makes you wonder that when the Islamofascists begin detonating explosives in our country, will President Bush (or his successor) recognize and label it as such? Or will it simply be "an isolated incident"? Most of our leaders would rather have another 9/11 than offend a single Muslim.