A young woman was killed and a further 22 people were injured after a car tore through a crowd of pedestrians in Times Square in New York at around midday local time. The fatality was an 18-year-old girl, whose 13-year-old sister was also injured in the incident (whatever you’re doing, take a moment to think of their family), and four of the 22 injuries have been classed as critical.
Local news outlets in New York have reported that the incident had taken place on Seventh Avenue in the near vicinity of 45th Street. The police on the scene closed off a whole bunch of blocks in the area, from 42nd Street and Broadway right the way down to 46th Street and Seventh Avenue.
It was quite a scene.
All the primary US cable news channels that, much to the behest of President Donald Trump, get great, great ratings interrupted their programming schedules to immediately jump to the scene and cover what was going on, as did the smaller news stations around the New York area. According to the NYPD, the car incident “remains under investigation,” but they are under the assumption that it is “an isolated incident” and are treating it as such.
NYPD tweeted from the scene
The NYPD’s official Twitter account sent out a statement a few hours following the incident to confirm that they had “one male in custody” suspected to have perpetrated “the #TimesSquare vehicle collision.” The New York streets in which the incident took place have been cordoned off and as of yet, no traffic has been allowed to pass through.
Also, buildings in this area are currently locked down, with nobody going in or out.
News footage from the cable networks and also the local New York stations showed a red Honda Accord up in flames and tilted on its side. A Honda Accord, that’s not a joke. The car supposedly got tilted from colliding with some metal barriers and a large post on 45th Street, which totalled the car.
Police then quickly dragged the driver out of the car and took him to the station.
The NYPD later identified the suspect as Richard Rojas, a 26-year-old man from the Bronx in the rougher side of New York. He’s been arrested, and the police don’t believe it was an act of terrorism. They’re not ruling it out, they just don’t think that’s why he did it.
According to the NYPD, the driver has incurred two DWIs previously and has been arrested before now, so they’re testing his blood for drugs and alcohol. Rojas is a US citizen and ex-member of the armed forces.
Eyewitness reports recount the event
An eyewitness speaking to the New York channel of ABC recalled that the driver appeared to be driving into the crowd of pedestrians purposefully – he meant to do it. He started by driving towards oncoming cars in the incorrect lane (which is an aspect of the story that the police still have yet to confirm). Another eyewitness said that the driver was topless for some reason, and that when the police came after him, he tried to make a run for it before they nailed him.
Bill de Blasio, the Mayor of New York, has responded to the incident. While there is no signifier that this was an act of terrorism and the police are assuming it’s “an isolated incident,” Mayor de Blasio has announced that various parts of the city have been given additional security measures because the authorities are treating the situation with, as he puts it, “an abundance of caution,” which is a good call.
