SAN FRANCISCO -- Five people have been struck by a car in San Francisco in a hit-and-run incident, police say. One victim has since died, according to a hospital spokesman. CBS San Francisco reports that police spokeswoman Giselle Linnane said the incident happened at around 10:24 a.m. in the city's Dogpatch neighborhood.The driver of a vehicle got into a physical altercation with five people and struck all five with his car, Linnane said.The Associated Press reports that three of the victims were in serious condition and the fourth was in fair condition, according to Brent Andrew of the San Francisco General Hospital. He didn't get into the details of the nature of their injuries.A witness who chose to remain anonymous said it was a dispute between a driver of a van and four or five people on the street which led to the driver getting out of his van and chasing after the people with an ax or a hatchet. The witness said the people were able to disarm the man and chase him back to his van, where he then got back in the vehicle and drove onto the sidewalk and into the group at high speed.You can watch the interview with the witness in the video below:
Another witness said that the incident may have been how a "turf discussion" ended. Officials held a press briefing to say it was an isolated incident and that the public is not at risk.The driver fled the scene and the five male victims were rushed to the hospital, with at least one of them in life-threatening condition, police spokesman Officer Robert Rueca said. It was that victim who later died. Earlier police had indicated four of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries.Rueca said police were not releasing the description of the either the suspect or the vehicle, but that officers had the information and were searching for the driver.The witness described the driver as dark Hispanic or light African American in his late 30s to early 50s with a scruffy beard, matted hair and a plaid shirt. It appeared to the witness the man was living out of his van, described as a white GMC with a partial license plate number 165.The Associated Press reports the crash happened in an industrial neighborhood along the waterfront a few miles from the city's financial district.Paul Lim, who works nearby, told the San Francisco Chronicle a distraught bystander ran into the business asking for items to help stop the victims' bleeding. Lim added that one person was being attended by a friend crying out for help, while another person was moving slowly.The suspect remains at large.