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Tourists struck by blow darts at Golden Gate Bridge

Police suspect both darts were fired from a car passing while people were walking across the bridge.

By Stephen Feller
A man and woman were hit by blow darts while walking southbound on the east side of the Golden Gate Bridge. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI
A man and woman were hit by blow darts while walking southbound on the east side of the Golden Gate Bridge. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Two tourists walking across the Golden Gate Bridge said they were hit in the leg with blow darts in what police said appear to be separate, random attacks.

A man and a woman told California Highway Patrol officers they'd separately been hit -- one in the thigh and the other in the knee -- while walking southbound on the east side of the bridge, according to KGO-TV.

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The man stopped an officer on the bridge saying he'd been hit in the thigh by a dart, which went through his jeans and into his skin. The man had already removed the dart from his leg. Officers said it appeared to have been fired from a blow gun.

While the man was talking to the officer, a woman walked up and reported she'd been hit in the kneecap by an similar dart. Both darts are about 5 inches long, with one end sharpened to a point and the other covered with a white plastic cap.

Police said they thought the darts were fired from a passing car based on where the two people were hit.

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"I've never heard of something like this," Andrew Barclay, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, told the Los Angeles Times. "It seems very random, and it doesn't appear that either of the victims was targeted for any reason specifically."

The darts will be tested for chemicals. Police are investigating whether either of the shootings was captured on video.

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