A 58-year-old woman is in an Auckland hospital with "life threatening" injuries after being hit by car as she left the city's Methodist Mission Church, 3 News reports.

The driver of the vehicle reportedly "deliberately drove" at the church after jumping several red lights at speed, narrowly missing several pedestrians. Witnesses report seeing the car approaching from a distance of half a kilometre on the wrong side of the road before accelerating towards its target.

Jade Andrews said: "He sped up and I quickly shut my door and jumped out of the way because he nearly clipped me."

The impact with the church - described as sounding like a bomb going off - sprayed the exiting congregation with broken glass. Survivor Rosa Kim recounted: "We heard the sounds of the impact of the crashed glass. I got a sore nose. She [the victim] moaned from the pain."

The driver was "injured but conscious", and as police attempted to extricate him from his motor, he "clutched his laptop computer and screamed the name of Apple's CEO Steve Jobs". A fireman later told 3 News "he believed the man had a mental illness". ®

Bootnote

Thanks to Ernest Cunningham for the tip-off.

56 comments posted — Comment period finished