The collision happened near Taft Elementary School. Three children were taken to the hospital in stable condition, according to officials.
The ages of the children were not immediately known. Officials said the children were heading to school at the time of the collision.
Investigators say the driver of the car, later identified by Santa Ana police as 26-year-old Jason Guzman of Valencia, had trespassed into Taft Elementary School just before the collision, at around 8:30 a.m. asking to use the restroom, and was escorted off campus.
School staff told Eyewitness News that Guzman did not seem well and was talking to himself.
That’s when he drove off in a red car down Keller Avenue, officials say, and struck the three children on the sidewalk.
A resident that lives near where the crash happened told Eyewitness News that she heard a loud crash, and neighbors in the area were shocked when they came out and saw what was inside the suspect’s car.
“He actually ran to the park, and he fell down,” Chathuri Kahaduwa said. “What my neighbors and I did, we just like walked by the car, and we noticed a large knife in the passenger’s side…When he fell down he had blood all over his stomach.”
“After colliding with the children, he continued, the vehicle continued rolling and hit another vehicle. I believe that vehicle was parked,” said Santa Ana Police Sgt. Maria Lopez. “Then he continued and finally came to a stop, and that’s where our officers contacted him and the vehicle.”
Police say the suspect was taken in an ambulance to a local hospital in unknown condition, and was injured by a self-inflicted knife wound.
During the search for the suspect’s car, officers discovered a “suspicious incendiary device,” and the Orange County bomb squad was called to assist, officials said.
Three other incendiary devices were located, according to the Santa Ana Police Department. It’s was not immediately cleared if any arrests were made.
The elementary school was on lockdown for about three hours. Authorities eventually cleared the school campus and classes resumed.
Santa Ana police is working with the Santa Ana Unified School District Police Department and O.C. Sheriff’s Department in this ongoing investigation.
No further details were immediately known.
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