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Was OC Gunman Targeting Girl Injured In Mother's Alleged Hit-And-Run?

SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — There are questions now about whether the gunman in last week's shooting rampage across Orange County was aiming for a little girl who was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash, allegedly caused by his mother.

Yasmine Sarwat Syed, 41, of Ladera Ranch, appeared in court Monday in connection with a June 2011 hit-and-run crash on Interstate 405 that seriously injured two young children, including 4-year-old Ava O'Connor, who spent 11 days in intensive care and had to undergo several surgeries following the crash.

Robert O'Connor says he watched the news in fear that the suspected gunman, 20-year-old Ali Syed, was coming for him and his family.

"We were scared, we didn't know if they were coming here next," O'Connor said.O'Connor says he realized right away that the home address of the shooter was the same as that of a woman who was arrested for a felony hit-and-run that left his daughter in a coma.

Police say Syed was the gunman in a multi-city rampage across Orange County last Tuesday. Three people were killed and several more injured in carjackings in Orange, Tustin and Villa Park.

An autopsy confirmed Ali Syed died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head from a gun that belonged to Syed and was purchased by his father a year ago.

An attorney for Yasmine Syed says his client still has not had a chance to grieve for her son.

"Her grief is immense. Her husband's grief is immense," attorney Vincent LaBarbera, Jr. said. "But in addition to that, they have two small children and they have their own grief to deal with."

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