Vile moment sex offender tries to run down Muslim families picnicking in a California park after threatening to ‘shoot and bomb them’ – as footage shows parents fleeing with children as he drives over curbs and foliage

This is the vile moment that a sex offender tried to run down a group of Muslim families who were having a picnic in a California park.  

Robert Avery, 33, tried to run over the group with his silver car while screaming racist slurs and threatening to ‘shoot and bomb’ them on Sunday evening at 7.30pm at Heron Landing Park in Rancho Cordova.

He has now been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, making criminal threats, and a hate crime after turning himself in after the sickening incident. 

The screaming parents were seen in footage, released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), fleeing with their children as Avery drove over the curb and foliage in his horrific attack. 

At one point, an adult had to quickly lift one child out of the way before Avery – who lives in Orangeville – raced down a walking path in his 2012 Honda Insight and out of the park. 

Sgt. Amar Gandhi said that police were able to arrest Avery quickly thanks to the quick-thinking witnesses who recorded the footage and called 911. 

He said: ‘They were very brave. Instead of just folding and giving up… They got their phones out. 

‘They were out there taking pictures. They got video and helped us ID that vehicle really quickly which led us back to that suspect.’

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said: ‘Callers also reported the subject targeting and yelling racial slurs at parkgoers of Middle Eastern descent, threatening to ‘shoot and bomb’ them.

‘Sheriff’s Bias Based Crimes Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators responded to the scene a short time later and began their investigation 

Gandhi added: ‘From there, he’s yelling at kids, yelling at women… yelling at everybody he can that he was going to shoot them, he was going to bomb them, yelling all kinds of racial slurs.

‘We actually have our CSI unit, our crime scene investigations unit, that’s out there.

‘They’re taking measurements of the tire prints. I mean, we’re treating this a lot like we would treat a homicide scene. There’s no stone that will be left unturned.’ 

CAIR said in a statement: ‘We thank local law enforcement authorities for their swift action in taking the suspect into custody and urge federal authorities to consider bringing hate crime charges for this apparently bias-motivated attack on members of a minority community.’

Robert Avery was previously convicted of a charge of annoying or molesting a child under 18, according to sex offender records.