SUNNYVALE (KPIX 5) – The FBI was assisting Sunnyvale police Wednesday in investigating a driver who allegedly intentionally slammed his vehicle into eight people on a Sunnyvale street, severely injuring several of them.

In an email to KPIX 5 early Wednesday, the FBI said it was “assessing the situation to determine federal involvement. Should it be determined that a federal crime was committed, we will become more involved.”

Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety Capt. Jim Choi told reporters Wednesday that the driver may have accelerated as he veered toward the pedestrians.

“The driver did not slow down, did not try to avoid the victims and also may have accelerated at the last moment,” he said.

Sunnyvale police could not rule out domestic terrorism as a possible motive in Tuesday night’s crash.

“As of right now, it’s all under investigation so we wouldn’t be able to draw that conclusion, it’s too early,” Choi said. “We are conducting the that investigation. We don’t know what the motives were.”

Several news outlets reported that the car was registered to 34-year-old Isaiah J. Peoples of Sunnyvale.

The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety said officers responded to a call of a crash around 7:30 p.m. at the intersection of El Camino Real and Saratoga Sunnyvale Rd.

Police said the male driver sped through the intersection and drove directly into eight people, the youngest of whom was 13 years old. He then slammed into a tree and was taken into custody.

“He came out of his vehicle and basically gave up,” Choi said. “It looks like he was waiting for the police to arrive on scene.”

San Jose resident Don Draper told the San Jose Mercury News he was on the way to a friend’s house to watch the San Jose Sharks hockey game when he stopped at the intersection.

“I didn’t really notice him until about he was directly in front of me, going at least 60 miles an hour,” Draper told the paper. “Several people got hit. One person, a woman, was launched in the right in front of me.”

Other witnesses told police the driver never hit his brakes.

“Some of the (witness) statements are that the vehicle didn’t try to brake or slow down,” Choi said. “That the vehicle was speeding and went directly into the crowd.” Read more at CBS Local