The FBI and local police are investigating the cause of a fiery car crash that killed two people and injured several others outside of an upstate New York concert venue.
Two people were killed and five were injured early Monday after a vehicle filled with gasoline canisters crashed into a crowd of people leaving a concert in Rochester, upstate New York.
A suspect in the crash has been identified as Michael Avery of Syracuse, New York, CNN reported, citing a source familiar with the investigation.
A suicide note and journal reportedly belonging to Avery were discovered, CNN reported. His family has also been interviewed by law enforcement officers.
Police were investigating the crash, occurring only an hour into the new year, as possible domestic terrorism, ABC News reported, citing an unnamed law enforcement official.
However, an official on Tuesday said investigators had not found any evidence that the deadly crash was terror-related, the Associated Press reported.
“We’ve uncovered no evidence of an ideology and no nexus to terrorism, either international or domestic so far in the investigation,” said Jeremy Bell, assistant special agent in charge of the Rochester office, according to the AP.
The crash happened outside the Kodak Center in Rochester at 12.50am ET on Monday. About 1,000 people were leaving the entertainment venue after a New Year’s Eve concert held by moe. – a jazz band.
A Ford Expedition drove into a Mitsubishi Outlander that was exiting a nearby parking lot, the Rochester police chief, David Smith, said during a Monday news conference.
The collision caused both cars to crash into a group of pedestrians and additional vehicles.
The two cars subsequently exploded and caught fire. Firefighters struggling to extinguish the blaze for nearly an hour.
The two passengers in the Mitsubishi Outlander were killed. The driver of the Ford Expedition was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Police found at least a dozen canisters of gasoline in and around the Ford Expedition.
During the news conference, Rochester’s mayor, Malik Evans, offered his condolences to the victims’ families and prayers to those who had died or were injured.
“We have several individuals whose families’ lives have changed because they will not be here to bring in 2024,” Evans added.
The band moe. also released a statement on the crash, calling it a “tragedy that defies understanding”.
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of those who lost their lives, and our thoughts are with those who were injured,” the band said.
Rochester is a city of about 210,000 on Lake Ontario. It is about 90 miles west from Syracuse, where the reported suspect is from.
