(Image source from: AZCentral.com)

A very shocking incident that took place in fountain Hills on the Tuesday morning where 3 people died and one person was critically injured after an SUV hocked a curb and struck 4 pedestrians. A Maricopa county sheriff's office spokesman reported.

Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez said told that 2 women and 2 men were believed to be in their 50s and 60s walking in the corner of Palisades and Saguaro Boulevards when they were hit at 9:30 A.M.

It was believe that at least 2 people died at the scene, and their bodies covered in the roadway was outlined by the yellow caution tape later.

The only surviving victim was said to be in surgery the same day at afternoon. The gender of the person was not released.

Although the reason why SUV run on to the sidewalk was not immediately cleared, the details of the driver were identified and further investigation are going on.

The driver was identified as Alex Bashaw who is 27 years old as reported by Enriquez.

Bashaw did not appear to be impaired at all, Enriquez mention.

The owner of the nearby sears, Tim Budnik told that he was sitting in the back of a store when the incident happened. “I heard the tires squealing, followed by a succession of noises that I believe was the car hitting the curb,” Budnick mentioned.

“When I first heard it, I feared that I was hearing the violence of a car hitting people,” he added.

Budnik told that he walked to the front of his store and rushed out of the door after he heard the noise. He ran towards the place where the incident had taken place once he could see there were 4 people down.

“When I saw them, I was expecting some of them to start getting up, saying things like ‘Oh, my wrist,’ or ‘My shoulder hurts,’” Budnick told. “I heard nothing. All four of them were lying there.”

He quickly approach to one of the men on the ground. “He was lying there with his eyes wide open. He was opening and closing his mouth, and was suffering," Budnick mentioned. “I reached down, grabbed his hand and asked what his name was, but he was clearly unconscious.”

He also mentioned that he was pleased with how quickly the first responders arrived at the spot and he vowed to take a CPR course in cases of any help to someone in future.


--By Kavita R