Hit-and-Run Spree

That's how one of the local papers described it. I saw the headline on the back of another train-rider's newspaper: "Hit-and-Run Spree." The San Francisco Chronicle reported the story yesterday that Omeed Aziz Popal went on a rampage in his SUV, injuring 14 people and likely killing another.

Notice anything interesting in the name? The Chronicle didn't. The San Francisco police didn't.

San Francisco police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens said the attacks in the city occurred at 12 locations over a 20-minute period.

"The hits were intentional,'' he said, noting that police are treating them as assaults.

Gittens had no information about a possible motive.

How about this for a motive?

The SUV struck two people in front of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco on California Street, a few blocks from where the rampage ended.

These people are either stupid or gun-shy of the "T" word. The least they could have done is to say their investigation will include looking at the incident as a possible terrorist act, and then they'd have some credibility. Instead, they give the equivalent of "nothing to see here, move along."

Emanule Gowan, 50, said he had been standing on his Steiner Street doorstep around 1 p.m. when an SUV roared by, driving the wrong way down Bush Street, and hit an elderly man in the crosswalk.

After running a stop sign and hitting another pedestrian in a crosswalk on Sutter Street, the driver headed off down Steiner, Gowan said.

"I looked right at him, and he looked at me as he busted down the street," Gowan said. "He was very calm.''

Other witnesses described the SUV as jumping the sidewalk in apparent pursuit of pedestrians.

This wasn't a case of some confused person hitting the accelerator when he thought it was the brake pedal. It was intentional.

Michelle Malkin has more on this. She has quotes from emails and comments she received after her initial post, that indicate the rampage area in San Francisco has quite a few Jews living there (though it's not considered a "Jewish area") as well as some prominent Jewish landmarks.

I'm not jumping to conclusions. I'm not saying, "This was terrorism." I just want to be sure the police are considering the possibility.

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.

They said the guy who shot up the Jewish center in Seattle committed a "hate crime," and the guy who drove his SUV (is this a pattern?) into a pedestrian area at the University of North Carolina committed "assaults." When do we start using the "T" word again?

Nope. Nothing to see here. Just some kook. Move along...