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Driver rams cyclists in Arizona road race

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Police have shot and wounded a man after he drove into a group of cyclists racing in Arizona.
Camera IconPolice have shot and wounded a man after he drove into a group of cyclists racing in Arizona. Credit: AP

A driver in a pickup truck has ploughed into cyclists during a community road race in Arizona, critically injuring several riders before police chased the driver and shot him outside a nearby hardware store.

Six people were taken to a hospital in critical condition after the crash on Saturday in the mountain town of Show Low, about a three-hour drive northeast of Phoenix, police said.

Helmets, shoes and crumpled and broken bicycles were strewn across the street after the crash, and a tyre was wedged into the grill of the truck, which had damage to its top and sides and a bullet hole in a window.

Two other people went to a hospital themselves, city spokeswoman Grace Payne said, and one of the severely injured was later flown by medical helicopter to a Phoenix-area hospital.

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The suspect, a 35-year-old man, also was hospitalised in critical but stable condition.

"We don't know the motivation," Payne told The Associated Press.

"We know he fled the scene."

Police said a Ford pickup truck struck the bicyclists about 7.25 am in downtown Show Low during the annual 95km Bike the Bluff race, then fled. Officers pursued the driver and tried to stop him before he was shot, authorities said.

Payne said the driver did not comply when officers tried to arrest him, but the circumstances of the shooting were not immediately released. Neither were the identities of the suspect and victims.

Officials said the race had 270 participants.

"Our community is shocked at this incident and our hearts and prayers are with the injured and their families at this time," police spokeswoman Kristine Sleighter said in a statement.

The Navajo County sheriff's office and Arizona Department of Public Safety were helping investigate.

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