Man charged with manslaughter in Brownsville, Texas, crash that killed 8

Man charged with manslaughter in Brownsville, Texas crash that killed 8 - The Washington Post

A Brownsville, Tex., resident was charged with eight counts of manslaughter Monday for slamming his SUV into a crowd of migrants, killing eight people and injuring 10 others. But police said they had not yet determined whether the act was intentional.

Sauceda said that although authorities did not have enough information to establish a motive yet, they have not “ruled out” that it was an intentional act. Along with the manslaughter counts, he said, Alvarez was charged with 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His bond was set at $3.6 million, the chief said.

“This was a very tragic incident,” the police chief said.

The crash occurred about 8:30 a.m. local time Sunday, when Alvarez’s vehicle ran a red light and smashed into a bus stop near a shelter for migrants, many of them from Venezuela, and homeless residents. The victims were all male, the police chief said. At least 18 people were struck by the SUV.

Shelter director Victor Maldonado said the SUV ran up the curb, flipped and continued moving for about 200 feet.

Brownsville has long been a center for migration across the U.S.-Mexico border. The Ozanam Center shelter, near where the crash occurred, is the only overnight shelter in the city.

Maldonado said the center had not received any threats before the crash, but did afterward.

“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,” Maldonado said.