Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, are hunting the driver of a white pick-up truck who has been deliberately running over homeless people.
One man has died and two others have been injured after being struck by the same vehicle in separate incidents.
All of the victims were sitting by the side of the road when they were hit. Those who survived later told police the driver was a white man in his 40s who was wearing a baseball hat.
Police in Tulsa say the driver was filmed on surveillance footage circling the block before striking one victim and that they deliberately swerved on to the curb to hit another.
Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, are hunting the driver of this white pick-up truck who they say has been deliberately running over homeless people. It is seen above on Monday morning before striking three people at 6.15am outside a homeless mission
Detectives have released photographs of the truck to try to track down its owner but have not shared footage of the incidents.
On Monday, 46-year-old Shaun Birdough was killed after being hit by the truck as he sat in an overpass next to the John 3:16 Mission.
Cynthia Wallace, 49, was sitting next to him and was also hit. She suffered severe injuries and was hospitalized. James Russell was also with them and suffered minor injuries.
At 5pm on the same day, the driver hit his fourth victim, an unidentified woman who was sitting on the curb next to a QuikTrip convenience store.
He ran over her legs, police said, leaving her with serious injuries.
Tulsa Police Sgt Stephen Florea told Tulsa World all of the incidents were deliberate and that the driver ‘circled the block’ before the first fatal collision.
Shaun Birdough, 46, Cynthia Wallace, 49, and James Russell were sitting in the overpass beside the John 3:16 mission on Monday (above) when the car hit them
‘The pickup truck actually circled the block a couple of times before coming back, driving up over the curb and driving down the sidewalk to run over these individuals.
‘There’s just no way this could have been an accident. He had to deliberately drive up over the curb, maneuver his vehicle between the telephone pole and retaining wall, and then accelerate to hit these guys.’
Russell, who survived the first hit, said he was lucky to escape with his life.
‘I’m so glad to be OK. A lot of people like this (are) out here (sleeping outside.)
‘When you’re homeless, what can you do? Where can you go? You get bounced around a lot,’ he said.
At 5pm, the same truck struck again, hitting a woman who was sitting on the side of the road
The unidentified woman was sitting on the curb near this QuikTrip convenience store when the pick-up truck swerved towards her, running over her legs. She was hospitalized but is expected to survive
Reverend Steve Whitaker said the attacks were proof of how vulnerable the homeless community is.
‘We keep them safe within our doors and on our property, but once they are on the streets, they become vulnerable to accidents or attack,’ he said in a Facebook post.
He had been staying at the mission with Wallace and Birdough when they were hit.
Anyone with information may contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 918-596-COPS (2677).
Rev. Steve Whitaker of the John 3:16 Mission, where some of the victims had been staying, said the incidents were proof of how vulnerable the homeless community is