Terrorists

Terrorist Attack Watch: Terror Attack Against San Francisco Jews

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Fremont police shut down traffic along Fremont Boulevard between Decoto Road and Ferry Lane to investigate the scene of a fatal hit and run on Tuesday.

Contra Cost Times: One dead, at least 14 hurt in hit-and-run rampage

One man has died and at least 14 people were injured when a Fremont man purposefully drove his sport-utility vehicle onto sidewalks and crosswalks in San Francisco and Fremont today, according to San Francisco police.

The victims appear to include a Fremont man, a 78-year-old man who was using a cane to cross the street when he was struck, and a woman in her 70s. Earlier reports that a child was injured was incorrect.

“It’s one of the craziest things I’ve seen in my years on the force,” said San Francisco police Sgt. Neville Gittens. “This individual was driving around the city mowing people down.”

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.

An aide to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter was under investigation said Popal was the suspect in custody. He was injured and in stable condition, the aide said.

Newsom described the suspect as a “relatively young man.”

Callers into Hugh Hewitt’s radio show have confirmed that the victims were from a heavily Jewish neighborhood.

UPDATE: A caller to the program who stated he had lived in the neighborhood where the attacks occured asserted that this is a heavily Jewish neighborhood. I have not found that confirmed in the media accounts yet.

UPDATE: Four callers have confirmed that without doubt this is a Jewish neighborhood, and that one of the victimns was run over in front of the Jewish Community Center in the area.

UPDATE: From an e-mail:

Look on the web! the JCC located at 3200 California St. Site of one of the attacks: 3250 California ST.
Please keep an eye out for the first MSM mention you see that this may very well be another mass casualty attack on Jewish Americans, the second in two months.

Stay tuned…….let’s see if the MSM characterizes this attack as one of terror or an anti-Semitic HATE CRIME.

Update: Michelle Malkin has San Fran car rampage ends at Jewish Community Center

Omeed Aziz Popal

Update:

Reader Chris writes: “The 3500 California St hit was a 1/2 mile from the main Jewish temple, Temple Emanu-El and 41 miles from his starting point in Fremont.”

Update: Bookworm points to latest wire stories repeating relatives’ claim that Popal had wedding jitters.

LA Times has some details.

More from CBS 5

A child suffered from massive head injuries after being struck along California street, police said. The other victims were all between the ages of 18 and 78 years old, according to San Francisco Public Health spokeswoman Eileen Shields.

An FBI agent on his lunch break was also struck by the suspect’s SUV in the vicinity of the Federal Building.

“He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” FBI spokesman Ryan Butler said. The agent suffered “very minor injuries” and was treated and released, Butler said.

One of the three hospitals treating victims was San Francisco General Hospital, where Newsom met with victims and their families.

“These are the things, these are so senseless. They’re utterly inexplicable. They’re impossible to rationalize,” Newsom said afterward. “The fact that this individual felt compelled for whatever reason to be determined to do what he did is beyond imagination.” (Small imagine there, Newsom.)

Popal’s attorney, Majeed Samara, said his client was “mentally ill” but did not elaborate.

“All I can tell you is he’s not all together,” Samara said Tuesday.

Update #2: VIDEO: Witness says driver declared himself a ‘terrorist’…

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Members of the Fremont Police investigate the scene of a fatal hit and run on Fremont Boulevard.


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