Some awful news out of Austin: Last night around 12:30 a.m., a drunk driver fleeing police crashed through a blocked off area and into a crowd of festivalgoers outside The Mohawk, a venue hosting House of Vans and Spin events this week, killing at least two people who were on a moped and injuring 23 more bystanders, 5 of them critically. The man went on to hit a cab and a parked van before exiting his car in an attempt to escape by foot, at which point he was taken into custody by police.
The driver of the car, whose name has not yet been released, will likely face two counts of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle.
"We had a large crowd, I just thank God that a lot of the folks had already been pushed on the sidewalk or this could have been a lot worse," said Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo a press conference held early this morning. "We do these events very well, but you cannot stop a person who rather than face drunk driving charges decides to speed at a high rate of speed, go around a uniformed officer forcing him to run out of the way, then at a high rate of speed show total disregard for the sanctity of human life."
Tyler, The Creator was due to play Mohawk at 1am but the show was cancelled following the incident, and the venues will remain closed for most of today. Tyler addressed the evening's events on Twitter, writing:
Show Isnt Happening, Something Sad Happened. I'm Bummed
— Tyler, The Creator (@fucktyler) March 13, 2014fuckk man
— Tyler, The Creator (@fucktyler) March 13, 2014The Austin Police Department asks that anyone with any additional information get in touch:
If you witnessed, have video/photos of the incident @ Red River call (512) 974-5186. Do not tie this line up for any other reason. #SXSW
— Austin Police Dept (@Austin_Police) March 13, 2014