Three people were killed and eight others injured, three critically, when a pickup truck drove into a group celebrating the Fourth of July holiday in New York City, authorities said.
A Ford F-150 came down a street “at a high rate of speed” shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday. The truck went through an intersection and past a stop sign, drove onto the sidewalk and into Corlears Hook Park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, New York Police Department Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said during a news conference.
Two victims were confirmed dead at the scene, Maddrey said. A third victim was later pronounced dead, a police spokesperson said Friday.
The victims’ names were not immediately released.
The crash happened about a half hour before the start of the Macy’s fireworks show and other fireworks displays around New York.
“We had a tragic incident that took place here,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said during a briefing at the scene. “A driver drove into a crowd of people who were actually just celebrating like so many New Yorkers and Americans are doing right now.”
The injured initially included four people who were in critical condition, three who were seriously injured and two with minor injuries, Fire Department Assistant Chief Michael Meyers said.
The first Fire Department crew to arrive at the scene found the pickup truck on top of four of the victims and firefighters worked to quickly extricate them before emergency medical personnel began treatment, Meyers said.
Investigators do not believe the crash was an act of terrorism, Maddrey and Adams said.
Authorities were testing the driver for possible alcohol use, which was believed to be a factor in the crash, Maddrey said.
Charges against the driver were pending Friday.
The crash happened days after four people, including an NYPD officer, were killed when a driver crashed his SUV into a nail salon in Deer Park on Long Island. The driver in that crash was charged with driving while intoxicated and has pleaded not guilty.