Driver in deadly Texas crash charged with manslaughter

Emergency personnel respond to a fatal collision in Brownsville, Texas, on Sunday, May 7, 2023. Several migrants were killed after they were struck by a vehicle while waiting at a bus stop near Ozanam Center, a migrant and homeless shelter. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)

Emergency personnel respond to a fatal collision in Brownsville, Texas, Sunday, May 7, 2023. Several migrants were killed after they were struck by a vehicle while waiting at a bus stop near Ozanam Center, a migrant and homeless shelter. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)

Father Kevin Collins, OMI, pastor at St. Eugene de Mazenod Parish, places his hand on his forehead in prayer with others after a deadly scene took place when the driver of a Range Rover struck a group of migrants, Sunday, May 7, 2023, along North Minnesota Avenue across from Ozanam Center, a migrant, and homeless shelter in Brownsville, Texas. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The driver of an SUV that kiled eight people when it slammed into a bus stop in Brownsville, Texas has been charged with manslaughter, police said Monday as investigators tried to determine if the crash was intentional.

Authorities believe driver George Alvarez, 34, of Brownsville, lost control after running a red light Sunday morning and plowed into a crowd of Venezuelans outside a migrant center.

Police Chief Chief Felix Sauceda said Alvarez was charged with eight counts of manslaughter and 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Officials are awaiting toxicology reports to determine whether Alvarez was intoxicated, Sauceda said, adding that there was no motive that he could discuss.

The SUV ran a red light, lost control, flipped on its side and struck 18 people, Sauceda said at a news conference Monday morning. Six people died on the scene and 12 people were critically injured, he said. Officials have said the death toll later rose to eight.

Alvarez tried to flee, but was held down by several people on the scene, he said. His bail was set at $3.6 million.

Victims struck by the vehicle were waiting for the bus to return to downtown Brownsville after spending the night at the overnight shelter, said Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.

Most of the victims were Venezuelan men, shelter director Victor Maldonado said. Brownsville has seen a surge of Venezuelan migrants over the last two weeks for unclear reasons, authorities said. On Thursday, 4,000 of about 6,000 migrants in Border Patrol custody in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley were Venezuelan.

Police retrieved a blood sample and sent it to a Texas Department of Public Safety lab to test for intoxicants.