Texas: police name suspect after eight killed by truck plowing into crowd

Authorities have publicly identified the driver accused of killing several people after plowing his truck into a crowd that was waiting at a bus stop near a shelter serving migrants in a south Texas city.

During a Monday morning news conference, police accused George Alvarez of killing eight people and injuring 10 others about 8.30am on Sunday in Brownsville.

Police also said that Alvarez attempted to leave the scene, but he was held down by several people until police arrived and arrested him.

A local judge set bond for Alvarez at $3.6m. He was initially booked with reckless driving but faces additional charges, including manslaughter.

Police have maintained that they have not determined whether Alvarez acted intentionally and have been unable to verify reports from witnesses that the driver was shouting anti-immigrant obscenities at the time of the crash.

A Venezuelan migrant who escaped the crash said the driver was shouting that immigrants were invading the US, along with other offensive remarks, Monitor News reported. The Guardian reported a similar witness statement, and this was backed up later on Monday by other witnesses.

The majority of those injured and killed were initially believed to be Venezuelan, and police have confirmed that they were all men.

Several people died at the scene, said authorities, with the eighth victim dying on Sunday night.

According to surveillance video of the crash, the driver of the SUV ran a light and plowed into the waiting crowd at the bus stop.

Officials obtained a blood sample of the driver to check for possible intoxicants, but the results of those tests have also not been released, police said on Monday.

The truck killings came four days before Title 42 was set to expire. Title 42 was a Covid-era policy that allowed for the expulsion of migrants.