Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:
The identified, is in custody and will be charged with two counts of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle.
11:50 a.m.: The American-Statesman has confirmed the identity of the suspect in last night’s SXSW incident. He is Rashad Charjuan Owens, 22, of Killeen.
11:15 a.m. update: Police are waiting to file capital murder charges against a suspected drunken driver who plowed through a crowd of South by Southwest festival-goers early Thursday morning in downtown Austin before they identify him.
Police Chief Art Acevedo said the man will face two charges of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault. The name of the suspect is expected to be released Thursday afternoon, Acevedo said.
Police also clarified who was killed in the incident. One of the dead, a man from the Netherlands, was riding a bicycle near the intersection of 11th and Red River streets when struck. The other, an Austin woman on a moped, also was killed. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
Another man on the moped is in stable condition, Acevedo said.
Earlier:
A driver attempting to evade a drunk driving stop hurtled past a barricade on Red River Street and plowed through dozens of SXSW revelers, killing two and injuring 23 in a horrific scene early Thursday morning, police said. The street, home to many popular clubs hosting South by Southwest music showcases, had been closed to motorists and was crowded with music fans waiting to get into the Mohawk nightclub.
According to police, the man, driving a small Toyota car, went the wrong way down Ninth Street after evading a stop at a gas station around 12:30 a.m., turned onto Red River and drove for more than two blocks, striking numerous pedestrians before hitting a scooter traveling on 11th Street, killing a woman who was on board. The driver then struck a taxi, injuring two, and crashed into a parked van, Police Chief Art Acevedo said. A male cyclist from the Netherlands also was killed, he said Thursday morning.
The male driver of the scooter was in stable condition, Acevedo said. It had initially been reported that both people on the scooter had been killed.
The driver then attempted to flee on foot before he was stunned with a Taser gun and detained by the police officer who originally tried to pull the man over at a gas station on the frontage road of Interstate 35.
Speaking to reporters on Red River Street, which was still littered with shoes, clothing and other debris from the incident, Acevedo vowed the man would face capital murder charges in the deaths of the two scooter riders and 23 counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle.
Acevedo did not identify the suspect, who was alone in the car, but said police would provide more information later Thursday.
University Medical Center Brackenridge officials said at Thursday morning that eight of the 23 victims from the crash had been taken there. Two patients are critically injured, both with head injuries. One in is intensive care, the other in the Special Procedures Lab. Their prognosis is “worrisome.”
Three others are in serious condition, with a spinal fracture, minor head injuries and other problems. One is in good condotion, and two were treated for minor injuries and released, including the driver. Most of the victims were in their 20s.
Five people were critically injured and taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge within 15 minutes of the accident, emergency officials said.
Scott Jakota, a musician from Indiana in town to play SXSW, said he was one of the first people hit. He said the driver “gunned” the car, “and I was thrown up in the sky.” He appeared to have a leg injury and was being helped by his friends.
Ally Hulton, a 28-year-old from Los Angeles, was smoking a cigarette on the balcony of her friend’s apartment on Red River when she saw a car drive down the street “at full speed” before hitting someone.
It then appeared to accelerate into a crowd of people, she said.
“About 10 bodies went flying,” Hulton said.
A Statesman photographer on the balcony of the Mohawk at the time of the incident said he saw some bystanders attempting to provide first aid to victims while others sat stunned on curbs with their hands over their mouths. He said the band playing at the time, X, finished its set, unaware of what had happened.
A large section of Red River will be closed for most of the day Thursday, although police hope to open intersections by morning rush hour.
Shortly before 3 a.m. Mayor Lee Leffingwell expressed his condolences. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims, as well as those being treated in area hospitals,” Leffingwell said in a statement. “The Austin Police department is investigating this matter as allegedly involving drunk driving. If this is true, this fact angers me. Drunk driving is never acceptable, and can lead to deadly consequences.”
Transmission Events, which owns the Mohawk, said on Twitter: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and injured from tonight’s tragedy. Please check and make sure everyone you know is home safe tonight.”
Acevedo said an officer assigned to a DWI detail attempted to pull the driver over at the Shell gasoline station at Ninth Street and the frontage road of Interstate 35. Acevedo said the man weaved through the crowded station to avoid the officer and then “accelerated at a high rate of speed” the wrong way on Ninth Street before turning onto Red River. The barricade was manned by a police officer who was forced out of the way by the onrushing car.
Acevedo said there was little that could have been done to stop the driver’s rampage. “This traffic management plan is a plan that has worked for many years, and obviously when we have something like this, we will review it,” he said. “But when somebody decides to do the things that this man did, it’s part of life and ultimately we have to hold people accountable for their actions. This individual acted in a reckless, willful disregard for the people that were here at this event.”
With additional reporting by Peter Blackstock, Nancy Flores, Ben Wermund and Jay Janner
Earlier:
According to Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday, an APD officer who is part of a DWI task force attempted to stop a driver of a gray Toyota sedan at a Shell gas station on the Interstate 35 frontage road. The driver evaded the stop and weaved his way through the other cars at the station and headed west down Ninth Street, the wrong direction on a one-way street.
At Red River, he took a right, barrelled through the barricade, which was manned by a police officer, who jumped out of the way to avoid being hit. The driver accelerated at a high rate of speed, according to Acevedo, and struck multiple pedestrians on Red River, which was closed to street traffic and was full of people lined up outside the Mohawk. He drove two blocks through the pedestrians and at 11th, he struck a moped with a man and woman, who both died at the scene, Acevedo said.
The driver kept going, hit a taxi and a parked van, before jumping out of the car and fleeing on foot. The same officer who initiated the stop chased him all the way through and tased him, the police chief said.
Twenty-three people were injured, five of them critical. The more seriously injured were transported to University Medical Center Brackenridge within 15 minutes of the accident, Acevedo said.
The driver, who police have not yet identified, is in custody and will be charged with two counts of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle.
A large section of Red River will be closed for most of the day Thursday, although police hope to open intersections by morning rush hour.
Earlier:
At least two are dead and 21 injured after a car drove through barricades and into a crowd of South of Southwest festival goers outside of the Mohawk music club on Red River Street downtown early Thursday morning, police officials say.
Police, who are holding a news conference, said the driver was taken into custody.
Lt. Brian Moon told the Associated Press that two victims were confirmed dead at the scene and that 21 others were transported to hospitals, about five to seven with serious injuries.
John Wickham, owner of nearby Elysium, was on the upper level of the Mohawk during a SXSW showcase by X, and told the Statesman he saw a car coming down the street fast with a police car in pursuit. He saw the car hit several people. He said he did not see the police car hit anyone.
Scott Jakota from Indiana said the car that came through the barricade was a gray Prius, and he was one of the first people hit. He said the driver gunned the car, “and I was thrown up in the sky.” He appeared to have a leg injury and was being helped by his friends.
Red River Street was closed to traffic for several blocks, including the block in front of the Mohawk. Separate groups of SXSW badgeholders and non-badgeholders were lined up in the street at the time of the incident.
Transmission Events, which owns the Mohawk, said on Twitter: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and injured from tonight’s tragedy. Please check and make sure everyone you know is home safe tonight.”
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