One Dead, 22 Injured After Car Strikes Pedestrians In New York's Times Square
One Dead, 22 Injured After Car Strikes Pedestrians In New York's Times Square, A car struck pedestrians in New York City's Times Square on Thursday, leaving an 18-year-old woman dead.
Authorities told reporters 22 other people were injured, four of them critically, in the incident at 42nd Street and Broadway.
Police said 26-year-old Bronx resident Richard Rojas was arrested at the scene. "Preliminary investigation reveals that Rojas has a few arrests, two of them for DWI," NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill told reporters.
"Based on the information we have at this moment, there is no indication that this was an act of terrorism," Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the deceased woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities said her 13-year-old sister was among the injured victims.
Nigro said four patients were also taken to hospitals with "various traumatic injuries."
"None of the four are right now likely to perish," Nigro said. "Conditions can change. We're very hopeful, the fact they were treated here quickly and removed quickly, that they will survive."
Three other people received serious injuries and 15 others received minor injuries, Nigro said.
City Councilman Corey Johnson said witnesses described Rojas as appearing drunk, and police said he was being tested for drugs and alcohol.
Images from the scene showed people lying on the street after the incident. A Reuters photograph showed a woman with a sheet draped over her body.
Eyewitness Nicholas Rose told BuzzFeed News he saw the car run through a yellow or red traffic light and hit pedestrians who were crossing the street.
Another eyewitness, Francisco, who is visiting from Argentina, told BuzzFeed News the car was moving about 60 miles per hour — very fast for the normally congested area. He compared the car to a bowling ball hitting everything in its way. He took this photo:
Gov. Andrew Cuomo released the following statement:
Mary Ann Georgantopoulos, Tasneem Nashrulla, and David Mack contributed to this report.
This is a developing news story. Check back for updates or follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.