Two people were killed and seven others were injured after an apparently drunk driver of a pickup truck plowed into a crowd of people celebrating July 4 at a Lower East Side park, authorities said.
Several injured people were taken to hospitals, four of them in critical condition, authorities said at a news conference Thursday evening. A police spokesman confirmed by telephone that one person had been arrested.
During the press conference, New York Mayor Eric Adams said that while the investigation is still preliminary, the incident does not appear to be “terrorist related.”
According to police, just before 9 p.m., a Ford F-150 was speeding eastbound on Water Street. It ran a stop sign, mounted the sidewalk and drove into Corlears Hook Park, where a large group of people were celebrating the holiday.
“We believe alcohol played a role in this, but we are investigating,” New York City Police Department Chief Jeffrey B. Maddrey said at the news conference. He said two of the injured were pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.