The FBI is investigating a New Year's Day crash in upstate New York that killed three people and injured at least nine more.

Concertgoers were leaving a venue in Rochester on Monday morning when an SUV filled with petrol canisters crashed into another vehicle near a crosswalk.

Rochester police said there is currently no evidence the actions of the SUV driver were "motivated by any form political or social biases".

The driver later died in hospital.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is part of the investigation into the collision. Jeremy Bell, with the FBI's Rochester bureau, said that calling in the task force is not abnormal in cases like these.

"What I can tell you is so far we've uncovered no evidence of an ideology and no nexus to terrorism, international or domestic," he said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

The Ford SUV was driving "fast", police say, when it collided into a Mitsubishi Outlander leaving the Kodak Center, a performing arts venue, shortly before 01:00 local time (06:00 GMT).

The force of the collision caused the two vehicles to go through a group of pedestrians that were in the crosswalk and then hit two other vehicles.

It also set off a blaze that took nearly an hour to extinguish. At least a dozen gas canisters were found in and around the Ford.

Two passengers in the backseat of the Mitsubishi Outlander were killed while the driver was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The Mitsubishi was an Uber.

The driver of the Ford Expedition was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died, Rochester police said on Tuesday.

At least nine pedestrians were injured and three were transported to hospital - one now has "life-altering injuries".

Police identified the Ford's driver as Michael Avery, 35, from Syracuse, New York, which is 87miles (140km) east of Rochester. He rented a hotel room on 27 December and then rented the Ford once in the area. He also bought the petrol cannister while in the city.

While a motive is unclear, police have spoken to his family and said he may have been suffering from undiagnosed mental health issues.

On Monday, Rochester Mayor Malik Evans said in a statement that: "I know our community has many questions about this incident, and I ask for patience as investigators work diligently to piece together the details."

The band performing at the venue wrote on Facebook on Monday that "on a night that was meant for celebration and togetherness, we are faced instead with a tragedy that defies understanding".

Source:
courtesy of BBC NEWS

by Chloe Kim | BBC News

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