BEIJING - An angry man who deliberately knocked down and killed a pedestrian with his SUV over a squabble in broad daylight on a Beijing street has sparked public fury and an outcry for moral decency behind the wheels.

The killer, surnamed Xu, drove his Dodge SUV into Mr. Sun and crushed him to death last Sunday after Sun had uttered provocative words and stood in front of Xu's vehicle over a road dispute, Beijing police and witnesses said.

The accident happened at around 9 am at a crossing in Tiancun community of western Beijing and was witnessed by a large crowd of onlookers.

Some of the witnesses shot photos and video of the scene and posted them on the web.

The postings spread quickly at major portal websites and online forums including sina.com's microblogging service, and instantly aroused public fury.

Many witnesses also described how their squabble had started after the ill-fated Sun blamed Xu's wife, who was driving another vehicle and almost knocked him down while making a turn. Sun allegedly used vehement rhetoric that infuriated Xu, who got into his SUV, knocked Sun down and backed the vehicle to crush him.