Authorities said that two people were killed and nine others were injured, four critically, when a pickup truck drove into a group of people celebrating the Fourth of July holiday in New York City.
A Ford F-150 was traveling 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, said New York Police Department Chief Jeffrey Maddrey during a news conference.
Maddrey confirmed that two victims died at the scene.
New York City Fire Department Assistant Chief Michael Meyers said that among the injured were four people in critical condition, three who were seriously injured and two with minor injuries.
Meyers said that 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.
In the news briefing at the scene, Maddrey and New York Mayor Eric Adams said that investigators do not believe the crash was an act of terrorism.
Maddrey said that authorities were testing the driver for possible alcohol use, which was believed to be a factor in the crash.
Maddrey said that police were not immediately able to verify the ages of the victims.
