Seven Dead, Multiple Injured After Car Hits Pedestrians in Texas: Police

Seven people are dead and multiple others are injured after a car struck pedestrians in Brownsville, Texas, on Sunday morning, according to local law enforcement.

Investigator Martin Sandoval of the Brownsville Police Department said the fatal crash happened around 8:30 a.m. local time at a bus stop near a shelter for migrants, the Associated Press reported. Police said that it's currently unclear what led to the crash.

Brownsville, which is considered a border town, is located less than 5 miles from Matamoros, Mexico.

Sandoval also told local media that the driver was arrested and charged with reckless driving, adding that more charges will likely be filed.

"We don't know the actual cause of the accident. Like I said, it could be three different things. One, he could be intoxication. Two, it could be just an accidental one or three, it could be intentional," Sandoval said, local news station Valley Central reported.

He added that the driver, who was detained by residents, has not yet been identified by police because "he's been very uncooperative and has given several different names."

The bus stop where the crash occurred is located across the street from the Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center, which is a shelter. There was no bench and people waiting there were sitting along the curb, shelter director Victor Maldonado said, according to the AP, adding that most of the victims were Venezuelan men.

Maldonado said he also reviewed the shelter's surveillance video after receiving a call about the crash.

"What we see in the video is that this SUV, a Range Rover, just ran the light that was about a hundred feet away and just went through the people who were sitting there in the bus stop," Maldonado said according to the AP.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has been briefed on the situation, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Public Affairs Assistant Secretary Marsha Espinosa. Mayorkas has reached out to local leaders to offer condolences and the full support of the department, Espinosa tweeted, adding that DHS is in close touch with local authorities to provide assistance.

Newsweek reached out to the Brownsville Police Department via email for comment.

Representative Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat who represents Brownsville and surrounding areas in Texas' 34th Congressional District, took to Twitter on Sunday, saying, "Lorena and I are praying for all those involved in this horrific incident. Thank you to the Brownsville Police for their quick and thorough response. I am monitoring the situation as details surrounding the incident unfold."

Meanwhile, Brownsville has been an epicenter for migration across the U.S.-Mexico border. On Thursday, the city officially extended its declaration of a local disaster.

"The declaration is to address the influx of migrants crossing the Texas-Mexico border, south of Brownsville. The declaration extension continues to proactively address the influx of crossings and to support and alleviate the process and transfer of migrants in a humanitarian way; while supporting federal agencies," the city posted on its website.

The fatal crash comes as the Biden administration plans to lift the immigration regulation known as Title 42 on May 11. Former President Donald Trump invoked Title 42 in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, freeing U.S. authorities to expel migrants to their home country—or the country from which they most previously lived—without undergoing a formal asylum process.

Under Trump and President Joe Biden, more than 2 million people have been expelled from the U.S.-Mexico border using Title 42.

Update 5/7/2023, 5:19 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to reflect an update from local media on the driver's possible charges.

Update 5/7/2023, 4:45 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from DHS Public Affairs Assistant Secretary Marsha Espinosa.

Update 5/7/2023, 4:01 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.