An explosion that killed two people in Rochester, New York on New Year's Eve is being investigated as a terror attack, ABC News reported late on Monday, quoting a law enforcement source.
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A rented Ford Expedition struck containing at least 12 gas canisters crashed into a Mitsubishi Outlander which then impacted other vehicles nearby, causing the explosion. Two of the passengers in the Mitsubishi were killed and a third was hurt. Three pedestrians who were passing by were also wounded, one of them reportedly suffering life-threatening injuries. The driver of the SUV was said to have been badly wounded in the blast.
The incident occurred near the Kodak Center in Rochester where a concert before a crowd of 1,000, was ending. The explosion occurred at 12:50 a.m. local time as concertgoers were leaving the venue.
"The force of the collision caused the two vehicles to go through a group of pedestrians that were in the crosswalk, and then into two other vehicles," Rochester police chief, David Smith said in a press conference. "There was a large fire associated with the crash that took the Rochester Fire Department almost one hour to extinguish."
The investigation is being led by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the source told ABC adding that authorities do not yet know if this was a case of terrorism, but they are investigating it that way until they can determine what happened and why.
The driver of the rented SUV was said to be a resident of Syracuse, New York, some 80 miles away, and according to the preliminary investigation, had driven his own car to the local airport where he rented the SUV.
Law enforcement were investigating the suspect's online history and interviewing family and friends to determine a possible motive.
"I know that the community will have lots of questions as it relates to this. I ask them to continue to stay tuned," Rochester Mayor Malik Evans said during Monday's briefing. "More information will come out as we are able to."