Two People Are Dead, Dozens More Injured After A SXSW Hit-And-Run

Terrible news from Austin, where two people are dead and 23 more were injured after a car went down a crowded one-way street early Thursday morning, plowing over barricades, bicycles, and tragically, humans. The driver is suspected to have been drunk at the time, the turd topping on an already sh*tty story.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said officers initially tried to pull over the driver at a gas station on the Interstate 35 service road. The driver fled the wrong way down Ninth Street, which is a one-way street, and turned onto Red River, hitting pedestrians at a “high rate of speed.”

Acevedo said the driver hit a man and a woman on a moped, a taxi and a van before stopping the vehicle and fleeing on foot. The driver was eventually tased and taken into custody.

The two people on the moped were killed. (Via)

The hit-and-run occurred outside Mohawk, one of Austin’s best music venues, as well as one of its most popular during South by Southwest. I was actually there the day before, at the exact time the tragedy last night. The roads are packed, with music fans spilling onto the street with bar hoppers; it’s already hard enough driving through downtown when you’re sober. To try it with even a tiny buzz is despicable. To do it when you’re hammered is capital murder-worthy, which is exactly what the driver is being charged with.

Stay safe everyone.

Banner via ‏@colinkerrigan, via KVUE

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