Seven people remained hospitalized on Tuesday, days after a driver plowed his vehicle through a group of people near a migrant shelter in Brownsville, Tex.
Eight people were killed and another 10 injured when George Alvarez drove a gray Range Rover SUV into a group of people gathered across the street from the Ozanam Center on Sunday. The non-profit homeless shelter was established to help house migrants arriving in the border town.
Most of the victims were waiting for the bus to return to downtown Brownsville after spending the night at the shelter. With no bench at the unmarked stop, several of them were seated on the curb when they were struck.
“They came seeking refuge,” the center’s director,”Victor Maldonado told CNN. “They were staying at our shelter because they arrived in this country with very little.”
Surveillance video shows an SUV speeding through a red light and then running up the curb on Sunday around 8:29 a.m. The vehicle flipped and traveled another 200 feet before coming to a complete stop. Witnesses said the driver was yelling and cursing in the seconds before the crash occurred.
Alvarez, a 34-year-old with an extensive rap sheet, attempted to flee the scene, but he was held down by passersby until law enforcement arrived on the scene. He was charged on Monday with 10 counts of aggravated assault. A judge ordered that he be held on $3.6 million bail. Investigators are awaiting a toxicology report and still are working to determine if the crash was intentional.
None of the victims has been identified, but most of them were Venezuelan men, according to Maldonado.
A vigil will take place Tuesday in the nearby border city of El Paso, where advocates and community members will join together to mourn the lives lost. Attendees will also demand “the humanization of migrants who have made the harrowing journey and difficult decision to leave their country in search of safety, opportunity, and a better life,” Fernando Garcia, Executive Director of the Border Network for Human Rights, told CNN. The group is hosting the event along with Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance (RITA).
“As one united front, Border communities across Texas stand in solidarity with migrants and refugees across our state and country who have arrived in search of safety and opportunity,” he added. “You are not alone, no estan solos.”