Witness Relives Moment Car Plowed Into Group Outside Texas Migrant Shelter

A witness has described the horrifying moment an SUV plowed into people waiting for a bus outside a migrant shelter in Texas.

Eight people—among them migrants—were killed and at least 10 others were injured in the crash in the border city of Brownsville on Sunday morning. The driver, who has so far been identified only as a Hispanic male, was hospitalized and charged with reckless driving, authorities said on Sunday. Brownsville police investigator Martin Sandoval said on Sunday evening that police did not know if the collision was intentional.

Early Monday, a police department spokesperson told Newsweek that the driver’s identity as well as additional charges will be announced at a press conference at 10:30 a.m. local time.

Police work at the scene after a driver crashed into several people in Brownsville, Texas, on Sunday, killing eight and injuring at least 10 others. Moises Avila/AFP via Getty Images

Brownsville has long been an epicenter for migration across the U.S.-Mexico border. Sunday’s crash came as the U.S. is preparing for an influx of migrants when Title 42 expires on May 11. The controversial Trump-era policy was invoked during the coronavirus pandemic and resulted in the quick expulsion of many migrants for public health reasons.

Some of the victims had been sitting on the curb outside the Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center at around 8:30 a.m. when the driver hit them, the center’s surveillance footage showed.

Jose Del Transito Rubio Armijo described seeing the vehicle overturning as it hit people.

“I could hear the car hitting people and the thumping, and I saw how the SUV rolled over when he hit them,” he told KRGV-TV in Spanish. It went off to the side. And at the same time, I’m not sure the curb made the car flip on its side.”

Shelter director Victor Maldonado, who reviewed the surveillance footage, told the Associated Press that the SUV ran up the curb, flipped and continued moving for about 200 feet.

He said some people who were walking on the sidewalk about 30 feet from the main group were also hit. Most of the victims were Venezuelan men, he added.

“This SUV, a Range Rover, just ran the light that was about 100 feet away and just went through the people who were sitting there in the bus stop,” he said.

Maldonado also said witnesses detained the driver as he tried to run away and held him until police arrived.

On Sunday, Maldonado told CNN that he and another staff member ran out and discovered a grisly scene, with body parts in the street.

“I’ve got a staff [member] who is in shock,” he said, adding that he was in shock as well.