Some sad news out of San Diego Comic-Con this weekend: A 64-year-old woman was taken to the hospital after being hit by a car during the annual ZombieWalk event.
According to David Stafford of the San Diego Police Department, the vehicle in question belonged to a deaf family. Upon being “attacked” by a swarm of ZombieWalk participants — many convincingly dressed to play the role of the undead — the whole family, including a few small children, grew terrified and agitated inside the car. The driver, a 48-year-old deaf man, panicked and tried to push through the crowd of “zombies” to safety, which is when he struck down the woman.
It was a frightening scene to say the least:
At about 5:30PM, the car was stopped at the intersection of 2nd and Island avenues, about a half-mile from the Convention Center, waiting for the marchers to lurch by. The driver told police that his children were frightened by the throng, so after several minutes, he began rolling forward trying to get out of the area. At that point, police said, several people surrounded the car and began beating on it.
“The crowd started punching the windows,” Stafford said. “They even jumped on the hood of the car. They smashed the windshield.” Police say the father drove forward again trying to get away from the angry crowd, and that’s when he struck the woman with the side of his car.
Some in the crowd then chased the car on foot as the family drove toward a policeman down the street, stopping when they reached the officer. Stafford said it was unclear whether the injured woman was a marcher or spectator, or whether she was among those attacking the car. “The crowd was giving the officers a hard time too,” he said. No arrests were made, but Stafford said police are investigating and hope to look at video of the incident. “I’m sure there is video out there about this, and that will be investigated by the traffic division,” he said.
The woman suffered serious but non-life-threatening arm injuries when she fell under the car, Stafford said. She was transferred to an area hospital for treatment.
Below is footage of the incident, which shows the woman (wearing a pink shirt) get knocked down:
Additional sources say two other people also sustained injuries, but it’s likely the driver won’t be criminally charged.
Via Deadline and NBC San Diego