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more details on last night's SXSW tragedy: video from press conference and of aftermath

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo @ press conference
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A drunk driving suspect was the person behind the wheel of last night’s tragic events at SXSW. According to a press conference by Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, when officers attempted to pull the driver over at a gas station around 12:30 AM early this morning (3/13), he evaded and barreled the wrong way down a one-way street (9th St) and then turned onto Red River, which was closed to vehicular traffic and full of people. The driven struck multiple pedestrians and, continuing down the street, hit two people on a moped, and then a taxi and finally crashed into a parked van. When the driver attempted to flee on foot, police caught him. The people on the moped were killed, and 23 other people were wounded, five critically. Acevedo said the man would face capital murder charges in the deaths of the two moped riders and 23 counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle.

There is video of the press conference below. There is also some guerilla-style video reporting below. While, not graphic, it’s still pretty shocking.

UPDATE: SXSW just released a short statement:

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the tragic accident that took place last night here in Austin. We appreciate and commend the first responders as well as the city agencies who so quickly sprung into action.

We will be making schedule and venue changes for programming in the surrounding area of last night’s events. All other programming will continue as previously scheduled. Please watch this website and twitter.com/sxsw for updates throughout the day.

As mentioned this happened just a few blocks from where BrooklynVegan hosted its official SXSW showcase last night. (We’re okay and hope you are too.) Our thoughts go out to the families and friends of the victims.

Videos below…

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