2 Dead, 23 Injured After Driver Evading Police Crashes into SXSW Crowd

Two people were killed and twenty-three were injured Wednesday night when a car evading a police stop drove through a barricade and into a crowd of South by Southwest attendees.

Authorities say police in downtown Austin tried to pull over the man driving a small Toyota at about 12:30 a.m., when he snaked through the lot of a corner gas station, went the wrong way down 9th Street, and then accelerated onto a block closed off for the festival. Witnesses say he “gunned” the car when turning onto Red River, a central street crowded with clubs and bars, and drove “at full speed” into the crowd.

He hit numerous pedestrians and struck a scooter, killing both riders. The man then tried to run before being tased by the officer who originally tried to pull him over.

No details have been revealed about the driver, but authorities intend to charge him with capital murder and twenty-three counts of aggravated assault.

[h/t Austin-American Statesman]

[Image via Tyler Wiethorn / KVUE]

——
>> Follow Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) on Twitter

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!