US: Driver in migrant center crash charged with manslaughter

The man who drove a car into a crowd of people outside a migrant shelter at a Texas border city, killing eight people, has been charged with manslaughter, police said Monday.

Police are looking into whether the crash in Brownsville was intentional. 

What we know so far

George Alvarez, 34, is believed to have lost control of the SUV he was driving after he ran a red light. His vehicle subsequently flipped on its side and crashed into 18 people waiting at a bus stop.

Six people, including Venezuelan immigrants, were killed on the scene with two more being pronounced dead later.

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

His bail was set at $3.6 million (€3.27 million).

Sauceda added they were waiting on toxicology reports to determine whether Alvarez was intoxicated, but could not discuss motive and was unable to confirm reports from witnesses that Alvarez had been cursing them before the incident.

Most victims were Venezuelan men

The director of the migrant shelter, Victor Maldonado, said most of the people killed were Venezuelan men.

The crowd at the bus stop was waiting for a bus to return to downtown Brownsville, after spending the night at the overnight shelter, Sister Norma Pimentel, the executive director of the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, said.  

Authorities say Brownsville has lately seen a surge in the arrival of Venezuelan migrants over the last two weeks. Part of that surge had to do with the expiration of a pandemic-era restriction that allowed authorities to turn away some migrants at the border.

There were about 4,000 to 6,000 Venezuelan migrants at the Border Control custody in Rio Grande Valley, which divides the US and Mexico, on Thursday.

ab, rm/jcg (AP, Reuters)