![]() “And regardless, whether it was intentional or accidental, it doesn’t matter. “The indications are this was just a terrible, tragic accident,” Trevino said. “He was furious.”Ĭameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, the highest-elected official in the county that includes Brownsville, said the community is mourning. ![]() “’Go back to your country,’” Ferrer recalled the driver telling the group after they confronted him. The driver tried to run away after the vehicle came to a stop, but Ferrer said he was pat of the group that restrained him. It came toward us and veered toward us,” he said. ![]() “We were in line at the bus stop when we spotted a grey SUV that was coming at full speed. Jesus Ferrer, 32, was standing in line with a group of migrants, including some friends when they noticed one of the vehicles driving in their direction. I couldn’t sleep all night,” Duarte said, breaking down as he thought about his friends who lost their lives. “She was desperate, because her son had just turned 18 years old and they had gone through so much trying to get here just so that he’d lose his life here.”ĭuarte’s other friend, the barber, was also heading downtown to look for a cellphone after raising money by offering haircuts, he had told Duarte.ĭuarte said his friend told him “We’ll see each other in a bit,” and that it was one of the last things his friend said to him. “Unfortunately, I had to share that with his mom,” Duarte said. I counted about seven people who had died,” Duarte recalled.ĭuarte said his friend, whom he described as a studious and ambitious young man, was going downtown to reunite with his mother after crossing the border. “When I got there, the survivors had already been taken. It was during that ride that Duarte began receiving messages about the fatal accident through Whatsapp. Shortly before the crash, Duarte had decided to share an Uber with a friend rather than wait for the bus downtown. He said one of his friends who was killed was a barber, and the other was a young man who had recently celebrated a birthday. It was the last haircut he’d receive from him.ĭuarte said three people he met at the shelter were among the victims two of them died while a third is in the hospital with a missing limb. On Monday morning, Jackson Duarte, 30, a Venezuelan migrant, was sporting a haircut from a friend he made at the Ozanam shelter, where they were both staying. Some people walking on the sidewalk about 30 feet (9 meters) from the main group were also hit, Maldonado said. “This SUV, a Range Rover, just ran the light that was about 100 feet (30 meters) away and just went through the people who were sitting there in the bus stop,” said shelter director Victor Maldonado, who reviewed the surveillance video. Surveillance video from the Ozanam Center showed some of the victims sitting on the curb when they were hit at the bus stop. Officials have said the death toll rose later.Īlvarez tried to flee, but was held down by several people on the scene, the police chief said. Six people died on the scene and 12 people were critically injured, he said. The SUV ran a red light, lost control, flipped on its side and hit 18 people, Sauceda told reporters Monday morning. Asked about reports from witnesses that Alvarez was cursing at them, Sauceda said there was nothing to confirm that yet. Officials are awaiting toxicology reports to determine whether Alvarez was intoxicated, Sauceda said, adding that there was no motive that he could discuss. Police Chief Felix Sauceda said Alvarez was charged with eight counts of manslaughter and 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - An SUV driver who killed eight people when he slammed into a group waiting at a bus stop in Brownsville, Texas, was charged with manslaughter, police said Monday as investigators tried to determine if the crash was intentional.Īuthorities believe driver George Alvarez, 34, of Brownsville, lost control after running a red light Sunday morning, and plowed into a crowd outside a migrant center in the city, which has long been an epicenter for migration across the U.S.-Mexico border.
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