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Police in Texas have identified 34-year-old George Alvarez as the driver who plowed into a group of people near a migrant shelter Sunday morning.
Eight people died and 10 others were injured in the crash in Brownsville, Texas, a city of roughly 187,000 people that sits on the U.S.-Mexico border. The incident occurred around 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning at a bus stop outside the Ozanam Center.
Police initially charged Alvarez with reckless driving, but Brownsville Police Chief Felix Sauceda said Monday morning that authorities have also charged him with eight counts of manslaughter and 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
„Through the investigation, it was found that the SUV ran a red light, lost control, flipped on its side and struck a total of 18 individuals,“ he said.
Sauceda said authorities were not ruling out the possibility that the crash was intentional, and noted that police were waiting on toxicology results to determine if Alvarez was impaired.
Alvarez, a Brownsville local who Sauceda said has an „extensive rap sheet,“ apparently tried to flee after hitting the group but was held down by several bystanders. Alvarez has not been cooperating with investigators, the chief added.
All the victims were male and at least some of them were from Venezuela, Sauceda said.The victims were seeking asylum in the U.S., a local aid worker says
Victor Maldonado, executive director of the Ozanam Center, said in an email Monday morning that those killed and injured were asylum-seekers.
