Officials say driver intentionally struck crowd, killing one person

Police say that the driver of a car that struck a group of people in Houston, killing one woman, did so intentionally.

Around 1 a.m. on Thursday, several people were huddled together in the parking lot of a Pinchy’s Tex-Mex Restaurant after a fight broke out inside. After the crowd relocated outside, a man, about 20 years old, hit them with his car, ABC News reports.

Investigators are looking into whether the fight was the impetus behind the incident, which left one woman dead and one other critically wounded. Several other people sustained less severe injuries, including four who were transported to local hospitals.

Deputies responding to the scene initially believed it to be an auto-pedestrian accident but later dubbed it an intentional assault.

“We believe that the person did intentionally drive the vehicle at the people that were hit,” Harris County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jason Brown said during a press conference.

Homicide Sgt J Brown giving a media update for a death investigation in the 1200 block of Mason https://t.co/I7A4sJ881k woman is deceased, four others suffered various injuries and we’re transported to local hospitals. #hounews pic.twitter.com/GsaVQDjQj0

— HCSOTexas (@HCSOTexas) May 6, 2021

The suspect fled the scene immediately after driving into the crowd but later returned to the scene. He was promptly taken into custody, Brown noted.

The investigation is still in its preliminary stages.