Car Rams Into 8 People At Calif. Intersection, Possibly On Purpose

A car plowed into eight pedestrians at a Sunnyvale, California intersection Tuesday evening and it might have been intentional, authorities said. Some of those hit have serious injuries and all were brought to area hospitals, the city's Department of Public Safety told CBS News.

Sunnyvale DPS Captain Jim Choi said the youngest person struck was 13 years old.

Choi said the car stopped when it hit a tree and the driver, who was alone in the vehicle, was taken into custody but hasn't been charged with anything yet. The driver's name hasn't been released.

Choi told CBS San Francisco the car sped through an intersection and directly into people in a crosswalk and on a sidewalk.

"It looks like this may have been an intentional act by the driver, based upon what's on scene and also some statements of pain," Choi said. "We are conducting that investigation. We don't know what the motives were."

Choi said the victims reported that the vehicle didn't try to veer away from them or to brake.

He told CBS News there were no skid marks on the road, adding it may have been a case of wrong place, wrong time for the victims. 

But when asked if it may have been a terrorist act, Choi said it was too early to rule it out.

First published on April 24, 2019 / 1:54 AM

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