'Sharpened' Blow Darts Hit Tourists

Ah, friendly San Francisco—where two tourists were apparently just attacked by darts fired from a blow gun. The pedestrians were crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on Friday when they were struck by the metal darts, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Seems one victim flagged down a California Highway Patrol officer at 2:45pm complaining that a 5-inch-long dart had hit his thigh and sunk in about two inches. An ambulance came, and when emergency personnel were talking to the man, a woman approached saying an identical dart had struck her in the knee.

"I've never heard of something like this," CHP spokesman Andrew Barclay tells the LA Times. "It seems very random, and it doesn't appear that either of the victims was targeted for any reason specifically .... Neither of them had had any arguments." Authorities say the darts were likely fired from a passing car, judging by where the victims were hit. The darts—which were sharpened on one end and had a white plastic cap on the other—will be tested for poison and other chemicals. Paramedics examined the two victims and let them go. "It was definitely one of those situations where you ... wonder why would somebody do this," Barclay says. (More assault stories.)