At least 8 dead in Brownsville, Texas, after SUV hits crowd outside migrant shelter

Bus stop in Brownsville, Texas, where 8 died in SUV crash
(Image credit: Moises Avila/AFP via Getty Images)

A man driving a Range Rover sped through a red light in Brownsville, Texas, on Sunday and into a crowd of people waiting at a bus stop outside a migrant shelter, killing at least eight people and wounding several more, according to local officials. The eighth victim died Sunday night, and "several more remain critical," Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez said in a statement. Brownsville police say they don't know the identity of the driver or whether he meant to harm his victims.

"It could be intoxication; it could be an accident; or it could be intentional," Brownsville police Lt. Martin Sandoval said. "In order for us to find out exactly what happened, we have to eliminate the other two." The driver, whose SUV flipped after ramming the crowd, is "being very uncooperative at the hospital, but he will be transported to our city jail as soon as he gets released," he added. "Then we'll fingerprint him and (take a) mug shot, and then we can find his true identity." A sample of his blood was sent to a lab to check for intoxicants.

The incident occurred Sunday morning at a bus stop across the street from the Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center, which provides emergency shelter and food to individuals and families, especially migrants passing through Brownsville after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Shelter director Victor Maldonado said most of the victims were Venezuelan men. According to surveillance video, the driver tried to run away, but witnesses detained him until police arrived. Luis Herrera, who suffered a broken arm when the SUV grazed him, told The Washington Post the driver had first driven by the bus stop, insulting and taunting those waiting for "invading" his property.

Brownsville, a longtime migration corridor, is preparing for an increase in border crossings after the Biden administration ends the national COVID-19 public health emergency this week and its Title 42 border expulsion policy. The majority of migrants coming through Brownsville in the past week are from Venezuela, The Associated Press reports.

Maldonado said the Ozanam Center, established by the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville on the edge of town, had not received any threats before Sunday's crash. But they did afterward, he told AP. "I've had a couple of people come by the gate and tell the security guard that the reason this happened was because of us."

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.