Month: May 2023

The man who drove a vehicle into a group of people near a migrant shelter in Brownsville, Texas on Sunday, killing eight and injuring 10 more, has been charged with eight counts of manslaughter. Brownsville Police chief Felix Sauceda said Monday during a news conference that the driver was identified as George Alvarez, a 34-year-old with an extensive rap sheet, including prior charges of assault and driving while intoxicated.

The accident occurred when a group of pedestrians, including several immigrants, were hit by the Land Rover while waiting at a bus stop across the street from the Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center, a non-profit homeless shelter helping to house migrants in the border town. The vehicle Alvarez was driving ran a red light, lost control, flipped on its side and hit a total of 18 people. Alvarez then tried to flee the scene before he was detained by bystanders. Police charged the suspect on the manslaughter counts as well as 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, with his bond was set at $3.6 million. A blood sample was also taken from the driver and a toxicology test will be ordered.

Police say they are still investigating the violent crash, which was captured on surveillance video. The footage shows the vehicle driving at a very high rate of speed and hitting a curb about 30 feet from where the migrants were sitting before the driver appears to lose control.  There were about 20 to 25 migrants sitting on the curb when police reported receiving reports of the crash, according to the shelter’s director. The migrants were from Venezuela and had arrived at the shelter just days ago.

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Officials confirmed on Monday that a suspect is in custody after a shooting on a Dallas Area Rapid Transit train that killed one person and injured two others.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit assistant vice president Gordon Shattles said in a statement that the shooting happened at about 4:30 p.m. CT on Sunday when two people got into an argument aboard a northbound Green Line train near Hatcher Station.  Two people, including a bystander, were shot and rushed to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas where one of those victims died, according to the transit system (known as DART). It is unclear whether the person who died was involved in the altercation. A third person was treated at the scene for non-life-threatening injuries.

In a statement, Gordon Shattles, DART assistant vice president, said a suspect was detained:  “DART Police have apprehended the suspect and recovered the weapon used in the incident.”  The suspect, whose name was not immediately disclosed, has been charged with one count of murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Hatcher Station is about 30 miles south of the Allen Premium Outlets, just north of Dallas, where eight people were fatally shot Saturday afternoon before police killed the gunman.

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Senior law enforcement officials confirmed that seven people — believed to be migrants — who were waiting at a bus stop in a Texas border city were killed, and a dozen more were injured when a vehicle rammed into them early Sunday. The incident occurred at a stop near a Catholic Charities facility in Brownsville known as the Ozanam Center.

Authorities initially believed it was an intentional act; however, they later said it was unclear whether it was intentional or not — and that the investigation into the motive is ongoing.  In an interview, Brownsville Lt. Martin Sandoval also said that police were also looking into whether the driver was intoxicated or whether the incident was an accident, but said the driver, a Hispanic male, has refused to cooperate with investigators.  Said Sandoval: “he has given us several names,” adding that authorities are waiting for a fingerprint match they hope will identify the driver, who has been charged with reckless driving. Sandoval said more charges are likely, and that the FBI is assisting Brownsville police in the investigation.

The Brownsville Fire Department said on its official Facebook page that ambulances took 11 people injured in the crash at 8:30 a.m. to local hospitals; and one of the injured was airlifted to Valley Baptist Medical Center in nearby Harlingen.

Brownsville is one of the border cities that is already seeing a surge in migrants trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico before the Title 42 immigration program ends Thursday.  The Covid ban, imposed in the last year of the Trump administration, has turned migrants back to Mexico more than 2.5 million times since it went into effect in March 2020.

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On Sunday, the suspected gunman involved in the mass shooting at an Allen, Texa outlet mall that killed eight (including the shooter) was identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia — described as a neo-Nazi sympathizer who lived in Dallas. CNN reported that Garcia used an AR-15-style weapon based on photos obtained from the scene. He also had a handgun and was reportedly wearing a tactical vest with a “right-wing acronym” patch on his chest.

The shooting happened around 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Allen Premium Outlets mall, about 25 miles north of downtown Dallas. Witnesses said that they saw the shooter near a Fatburger restaurant at the mall. The Allen Police Department said one of its officers was responding to an unrelated call nearby when they heard the gunfire. The officer “engaged the suspect and neutralized the threat.”mIn a news conference, Allen Fire Department Chief Jonathan Boyd said nine people were transported to area hospitals for treatment. Two later died, leaving three in critical condition and four stable. Medical City Healthcare said it received eight of the victims, ranging in age from 5 to 61 years old.

Garcia was living in a motel and working as a security guard at the time of the shooting, sources told CBS Texas. He did not have a serious criminal record; and authorities raided a house late Saturday night in Dallas that belonged to the gunman’s parents.

President Biden on Sunday ordered all flags at the White House and at public buildings and grounds to be flown at half-staff “as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence.”  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Fox News on Sunday that the state was working to address the “root cause” of the anger and violence that the country is facing:  “People want a quick solution, the long-term solution here is to address the mental health issue.”

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On Thursday, four members of the far-right Proud Boys organization were found guiltyof seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Enrique Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean and Zachary Rehl were found guilty on charges of seditious conspiracy, under a Civil War-era statute. They now likely face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Dominic Pezzola, another member of the group, was found not guilty of seditious conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly declared a mistrial on that count for Pezzola after the jury said it could not come to an agreement.

All five Proud Boys members were charged on nine counts in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, while Pezzola — who was caught on video smashing in a window with a Capitol Police shield during the breach, and who admitted to his behavior on the stand — was separately charged with a tenth count of stealing the police shield and found guilty Thursday. Pezzola was also found guilty of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers, while the other four defendants were acquitted on that charge. Tarrio, Biggs, Nordean and Rehl were also found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

The Proud Boys trial was the third seditious conspiracy case to go before jurors since the Capitol attack: Six members of the far-right Oath Keepers group, including founder Stewart Rhodes, were convicted on that charge across two trials in November and January. Prosecutors argued that the Proud Boys were “thirsting for violence” on Jan. 6 and had organized in advance to stop certification of President Joe Biden’s win by “any means necessary, including by force.”

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