Driver charged with manslaughter in deaths of 8 migrants in Texas

The driver of an SUV that plowed into a crowd at a bus stop in Brownsville, Texas, killing eight people, has been charged with murder, police said Monday.

Authorities believe driver George Alvarez, 34, of Brownsville, lost control after running a red light Sunday morning and plowed into a crowd of Venezuelans outside the migrant center. Authorities are still investigating whether the crash was intentional.

Police Chief Felix Sauceda said Alvarez was charged with eight counts of murder and 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Officials are awaiting toxicology reports to determine if Alvarez was intoxicated, Sauceda said.

The SUV ran a red light, lost control, flipped on its side and hit 18 people, Sauceda said at a news conference on Friday morning.

Venezuelan migrants were killed

Six people died on the spot and 12 others were critically injured, he said. Officials said the death toll later rose to eight.

Most of the victims were Venezuelan men, shelter director Victor Maldonado said. Brownsville has seen an increase in Venezuelan migrants over the past two weeks for reasons that are unclear, authorities said. As of Thursday, 4,000 of the approximately 6,000 migrants in Border Patrol custody in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley are Venezuelan.

Alvarez tried to run away, but was grabbed by several people at the scene, he said. The victims struck by the vehicle were waiting for a bus to return to downtown Brownsville after spending the night at the shelter, said Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.

Police took a blood sample and sent it to a Texas Department of Public Safety laboratory to test for intoxication.

The tragedy comes as the US prepares this week to end a policy linked to the coronavirus pandemic that allowed it to quickly deport large numbers of migrants.

Many cross the border entering through Brownsville north of the Mexican border town of Matamoros.