Two were left dead and 23 others were injured—five of them seriously—after a drunk driver slammed through the crowd outside of the Cheer Up Charlies & Mohawk venues in Austin, TX during ‘SXSW‘ last night.
The drunken motorist was already evading police after refusing to pull over, having raised the suspicions of authorities with his erratic behavior prior. He eventually crashed his car and attempted to flee on foot before being tased and apprehended. Amateur video of the carnage following the tragic accident can be seen below.
The police held a press conference this morning reporting that 15 victims have since been treated and released from hospital, while 5 remain in serious condition and 3 others with non-life-threatening injuries. The as-yet unnamed suspect is due to be charged this afternoon. For more details, Billboard.com have sourced together a timeline of the events.
‘SXSW‘ organizers have since released the following statement regarding the incident:
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the tragic accident that took place last night here in Austin. We appreciate and commend the first responders, as well as the city agencies who so quickly sprung into action. We will be making schedule and venue changes for programming in the surrounding area of last night’s events. All other programming will continue as previously scheduled.”