SHOW LOW, AZ — Show Low police have yet to release the identity of a pickup truck driver who drove into a group of cyclists competing in the Bike the Bluff Race Saturday morning.
“From the time this thing happened until the time they got me to the hospital in Show Low, I don’t remember a single thing,” said Kurt Kroemer, one of seven injured riders who were taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Kroemer says he was about a mile into the race with a group of 35 other cyclists when the crash happened. "When this guy hit us, all 35 were within 20 feet of one another.”
PHOTOS: BICYCLISTS STRUCK, DRIVER SHOT IN SHOW LOW
Show Low police say several riders were injured. The driver fled the scene. When police caught up with him a short time later, there was an altercation and the man was shot and wounded.
Racers like Kroemer compete often and know the other riders. He was taken to Flagstaff, where he had surgery on his hand Sunday and will have ankle surgery on Monday.
He also suffered two broken bones in his neck. But Kroemer wasn’t thinking about the injuries when he spoke with ABC15 from his hospital bed.
“I’m really concerned about everybody else,” he said. “I don’t know what’s happened to them. But I’m going to be fine.”
Police will only say the driver is a 35-year-old man who is from the area. Investigators are still working to determine the man's motive.
"This guy, was he impaired? Did he do it on purpose? Gosh darn it," said Kroemer.
