Alyssa Elsman, an 18-year-old woman, was killed and at least 22 people were injured after a speeding car came barreling down a busy sidewalk in Times Square on Thursday.
According to The New York Times, it was around noon when the car, a maroon Honda Accord, made a U-turn onto the sidewalk of 7th Avenue, a one-way street, and began to run into pedestrians. By the time the car came to a stop after traveling more than three blocks, it had left a clear path of destruction.
One witness, Annie Donahey, had just left work when she saw the car, The Times reports. “It was going at a fast rate of speed and to me it looked like it was trying to hit as many people as possible. People were trying to jump out of the way,” she said.
Tyezhane, a Harlem resident, told CNN she was walking to work when she saw the car and ran across the street. “There were a lot of people out, enjoying the good day, and then I heard screaming and the car running over bodies. I didn't know what was going on. At first, I thought someone was intentionally doing it. I was scared for my life,” she said.
When the car crashed into barriers in front of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, the driver, Richard Rojas, 26, tried to run away, but a witness told The Times that policemen and civilians came together to catch Rojas.
According to the Times Square Alliance, Times Square is one of the most visited places in the world, CNN reports. In the light of recent car attacks, such as when a car plowed through pedestrians outside of Parliament in Great Britain or when a truck drove through crowds during Bastille Day in France, people were quick to assume that this attack in Times Square was an act of terror.
Officials quickly responded to try to mitigate the fear of terrorism, saying that Rojas had been previously arrested for driving while intoxicated. “Based on information we have at this moment, there is no indication that this was an act of terrorism,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters, according to The Times.
Officials said that during questioning Rojas was “rambling and saying crazy stuff” and said that he was hearing voices and having hallucinations. While Rojas had tested negative for alcohol, he tested positive for PCP, which can cause mania and hallucinations, among other things.
Rojas was charged with “one count of murder, 20 counts of attempted murder and five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide” on Thursday.
This wasn’t the driver’s first encounter with the law. In 2012, according to The Times, Rojas, who was formerly in the Navy, was arrested outside Naval Station Mayport and charged with battery and resisting an officer after he attacked a cab driver. According to his arrest report, Rojas had yelled “my life is over,” and threatened “to kill all police and military police he might see after he is released from jail.”
In 2008, and again in 2015, Rojas was arrested for driving while intoxicated, The Times reports. Furthermore, on May 11 of this year, he grabbed a man’s neck, who had come to notarize documents for Rojas, and threatened him with a knife, accusing the man of trying to steal his identity. He pleaded guilty to his charge of menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.
Rojas’ friend, Hansel Guerrero, told The Times that after Rojas was dishonorably discharged from the Navy in 2014, he started drinking and became more paranoid and isolated.