Tthe things one misses as Real Life® interferes. It was right up the road. From WRAL
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Authorities say 23-year-old Mohammed Reza Taheriazar drove a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee into The Pit at the UNC-Chapel Hill campus around noon Friday, injuring five students and a visiting scholar.
Police said they would charge Taheriazar, who was a UNC student as recently as Fall 2005, with multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. Authorities are not releasing a motive, but they did say the incident was intentional.
Six people were taken to UNC Hospitals with minor injuries, hospital spokesman Tom Hughes said. Four of the students had been treated and released late Thursday afternoon, and the other two are still undergoing treatment. Three other people declined treatment on the scene, according to police.
If you continue reading the article, you see that what Taheriazar did was not accidental:
Several witnesses saw the SUV as plowed through that part of campus.
“He was speeding up and swerving to hit people. One person got knocked out of a wheelchair, and he didn’t care,” said student Lauren Westate, who saw the accident.
Dr. S at The Jawa Report links over to The John Locke Foundation, a local Triangle area site, who notes that the Daily Tar Heel, the UNC-Chapel Hill Paper, ran an unflattering cartoon of Mohammed (which I covered here). Also, they link to the local ABC affilliate, with this exerpt:
The driver of an SUV that plowed into a group of pedestrians at UNC-Chapel Hill on Friday told police it was retribution for the treatment of Muslims around the world, according to ABC News. (empasis mine)
As Rusty notes, it is hard not to jump to conclusions when you have a Muslim involved. It would be strange for there to be a religious motivated attack at what is called “Berkley East,” but, stranger things have happened. We will have to see how this plays out. We have a store in Chapel Hill, right near campus. I’ll see if I can get some info from them as students and residents come in.
Others covering this:
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