Two people were killed and at least nine others were injured after an apparently impaired driver plowed a pickup truck into a crowd of people celebrating July 4 in a park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the authorities said.
Several of the injured were transported to hospitals, two of them in critical condition, the authorities said at a news conference on Thursday night. A police spokesman confirmed by phone that one person had been taken into custody.
Speaking at the news conference, Mayor Eric Adams of New York said that though investigations were preliminary, the incident did not appear to be “terrorist related.” Officers responding to the scene smelled alcohol on the driver, and the police were conducting tests to confirm, officials said.
Police said that just before 9 p.m., a Ford F-150 driving eastbound at high speed down Water Street sped through a stop sign, up onto the sidewalk and into Corlears Hook Park, where a crowd of people were celebrating the holiday.
“You have a tragic incident like this that really impacts family members who were just here, celebrating and barbecuing inside a park,” Mayor Adams said. During the news conference, blasts of fireworks could be heard in the background, at times drowning out the officials.
Chief Jeffrey B. Maddrey of the New York City Police Department said at the news conference that two of those injured had been confirmed dead upon arrival at the hospital.
“We do believe that alcohol had played a role in this, but we are investigating,” Chief Maddrey said.
Of the injured, two people were in critical condition and three were seriously injured, Chief Michael V. Meyers of the New York City Fire Department said at the news conference.
Firefighters had arrived at the scene in less than four minutes, he said, where they found “a pickup truck on top of four victims.” They used airbags and floor jacks to lift the truck off them, he said. Chief Meyers did not describe the nature of their injuries.
Up to 200 people were at the park, Chief Meyers said. The crash took place about a half-hour before New York City’s main Fourth of July fireworks celebration was scheduled to get underway over the Hudson, on the other side of Manhattan.
Among those struck was a mother and her two young children who were taken to the hospital, the police said.
Victoria Kim contributed reporting.