Shooting and threats as Obama widens gap

• Man shot three times for wearing Obama T-shirt
• ‘Kill him’ cry at McCain rally probed by Secret Service
• Violence comes as Obama opens up 11-point lead

The stakes were raised dramatically in the US Presidential election Thursday as it was confirmed the Secret Service was investigating a cry of ‘Kill Obama’ at a rally addressed by his Republican rival John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin.

At the same time, a man wearing an Obama T-shirt was shot three times in a London street.

The violence comes amid major gains by the Democratic candidate, Mr Obama, in the polls.

And it follows the arrests of three men, who allegedly had said they wanted to kill the candidate when he made his acceptance speech at Denver, Colorado in August.

Drug abuse

The three who were also held on drug abuse charges, and were members of a right wing white supremacist group, were found to have hunting rifles and camouflage clothing in a truck they were using.

In London, Daily Mail reported that Nigerian Dube Egwuatu was shot on a street in South Norwood by a white man, who had threatened to kill him.

Mr Egwuatu, 36, a civil servant, was buying a mobile telephone top-up card when the gunman confronted him and glared at the shirt, which had Obama‘s image underneath the legend, ‘Believe.’ The attacker then launched into a tirade of racist slurs, shouting insults and urging the civil servant to leave the shop with him.

The attacker left the shop, but later accosted Mr Egwuatu as he walked to his car. The attacker was waiting for him in broad daylight with fierce-looking dog and holding a gun behind his back, the paper said.

Realising what had sparked the increasingly violent assault, Mr Egwuatu zipped up his jacket to cover Obama’s image and walked to his car.

But the clean-shaven man followed Mr Egwuatu and after pulling open the passenger door, pointed the gas-powered gun at him.

After pleading with the man to leave him alone, Mr Egwuatu put the keys in the ignition and turned the engine on. The attacker fired the pistol three times, hitting the civil servant in the face, hand and shoulder.

Fearing for his life and bleeding heavily, Egwuatu raced away in his car and found somewhere safe to call for help. He was taken to hospital and later sent to have a piece of metal removed from his jaw.

Going to kill you

Mr Egwuatu, a data analyst, said, ‘‘The venom in his voice was frightening. He was telling me that he was going to kill me. I couldn‘t believe it was happening — and just because I was wearing an Obama T-shirt. He was trying to make me walk somewhere quieter, saying, ‘I‘ve got something for you,‘ and ‘I‘m going to kill you.”