Driver runs over 9 people, kills 3 in San Diego

SAN DIEGO, California — San Diego authorities said a driver plowed through a crowd on a sidewalk in downtown San Diego on Monday morning, killing three people and injuring six others.

San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said two of the injured victims were hospitalized in critical condition.

Police said the driver has been arrested. Nisleit said the 71-year-old man appeared to be driving while impaired.

The incident, reported just after 9 a.m., happened in the 1400 block of B Street near San Diego City College.

“The way he was driving down the sidewalk, it was like he didn’t take his foot off the gas until he got to the other side of the street,” witness Ronnie Williams told ABC affiliate KGTV as he sat on the sidewalk.

“I’m like whoa! Is this guy ever gonna stop?” Williams said the driver exited his car and hid his face and “casually walked away.”

Another witness, Michael Luke, told KGTV the scene was “horrific.”

“I saw the (Volvo station) wagon move over and things just started popping up .. and the dragging … Horrific,” said Luke.

The incident happened largely in a downtown tunnel below an underpass where Nisleit said many people were seeking shelter from the rain.

“I don’t know if people were sleeping, if people were sitting there,” Nisleit said. He did not call the area a homeless encampment but said it appeared several tents and personal belongings were placed along the sidewalk.