On Sunday morning, a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in front of a shelter for migrants and homeless people in Brownsville, Texas. The incident left seven people dead and at least 11 injured.
According to Border City Police Department Lieutenant Martin Sandoval, the victims were waiting at a bus stop when the attack occurred. Although it has not yet been determined whether it was an intentional crash, all indications are that it was. "Now, we don't know the actual cause of the accident. Like I said, it could be three different things. One, he could be intoxicated. Two, it could be just accidental. Or three, it could be intentional," he said, not ruling out any options.
Sandoval added that most of the victims were Venezuelan and that the number of injured could increase after realizing that several of the people hit were transported to different hospitals in the area.
For the time being, the driver was arrested for reckless driving and is under surveillance while being tested for drugs and alcohol. Authorities reported that he could be charged with more crimes if they find that this was a deliberate act.
Police also revealed that they have not yet identified the man as he has not been very cooperative and has given several different names.
7 dead, at least 11 injured after driver plows into crowd near migrant shelterhttps://t.co/8oUqt9IFs8
— Jaun News English (@EnglishJaun) May 7, 2023
Was this an intentional attack?
One of the victims claimed that while he was waiting to go to the airport, a woman in a car drove by advising the group to split up, and shortly after, a man in a Range Rover arrived, gesturing and swearing at them before running them over.
Victor Maldonado, director of the Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center, said the cameras were able to capture that the vehicle "just ran the light that was about a 100 feet away and just went through the people who were sitting there in the bus stop." The vehicle overturned after it went up on the curb and continued moving for about 200 feet, injuring people passing by.
