Driver Targeted Muslim Stanford Student In Hit-And-Run: Officials

STANFORD, CA — A driver intentionally ran into an Arab Muslim student at Stanford University on Friday afternoon, said officials, who launched a hate crime investigation and are searching for the assailant.

The injured student said that the driver made eye contact with him, accelerated, and then hit him, according to the Stanford Department of Public Safety. The driver then reportedly yelled, "(expletive) you and your people" out the window, officials said. The student did not suffer life-threatening injuries, per campus police.

The collision took place at Campus Drive and Ayrshire Farm Lane just before 2 p.m. Friday, and campus police sent an alert about the hit-and-run at 10:29 p.m. University officials posted more information on Saturday morning; the California Highway Patrol will continue to investigate the incident.

Officials said the student described the perpetrator as a white man in his mid-20s, "with short dirty-blond hair and a short beard, wearing a gray shirt and round framed eyeglasses." The vehicle was described as a black Toyota 4Runner from model year 2015 or newer, with an exposed tire mounted on the rear. The victim said the vehicle had a white California license plate with the letters M and J, officials added.

Witnesses are asked to share information with officials. The California Highway Patrol can be reached at 650-779-2700, and the Stanford Department of Public Safety at 650-329-2413.

"Stanford is continuing to work to provide a safe and secure campus environment in the context of heightened tensions related to the events in Israel and Gaza," said public safety officials on Friday. "This includes additional security that has been deployed at key locations on campus. If you ever have a concern for your personal safety, please call 911 or 9-911 from a campus telephone."