Austin police say they have released the name of the man they say drove through a pedestrian area at the South by Southwest festival and killed two people.
Police said in a statement Thursday afternoon that they intend to charge Rashad Charjuan Owens, 21, with two counts of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault.
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The statement said formal charges were still pending, though Austin police Chief Art Acevedo said on Thursday afternoon he faces two counts of capital murder and multiple counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle.
Owens is accused of barreling through a barricade in downtown Austin while evading police as they attempted to pull him over for a suspected drunken driving stop and plowing into a crowd of people.
A Dutch man on a bicycle and a woman from Central Texas on a moped were killed in the crash, and 23 others were injured, some critically.
Owens will likely face two counts of capital murder and multiple counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle. He was also taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge with minor injuries but soon released into police custody.
Acevedo said it was an "intentional act," and that formal charges will be filed Thursday afternoon.
Police said when officers initially attempted to stop Owens, he pulled into a nearby gas station in a silver Toyota sedan after an officer working a drunken-driving patrol tried to stop him. He wove his way through a series of parked cars, then took off at high speed the wrong way down a one-way street. He took a right turn on Red River Street, crashing through a barricade and narrowly missing a police officer who was standing guard.
Officials at Fort Hood have confirmed that the car was stolen from a Fort Hood soldier.
Owens hit some of the victims in front of The Mohawk, a local club. He continued down the street where he struck and killed two people and then hit the cab before finally crashing.
Suspect has lengthy criminal history
According to Public Data.com, Owens has two criminal trespass charges in Bell County -- one from Sept. 28, 2010, and the other on Oct. 15, 2012.
According to court records in Alaska, Owens pleaded guilty to a drunken driving charge for an incident in Fairbanks on Oct. 17, 2011. He was also charged with leaving the scene of the accident, but that charge was dropped by prosecutors. He was sentenced to 75 days and $1,500 fine, then given probation.
He was arrested again in Fairbanks on May 4, 2012, on a charge of misdemeanor property damage. There was a motion to have his probation revoked after his arrest.
He was a no-show for a hearing on Oct. 17, 2012, two days after his arrest in Texas. A warrant was issued for failing to appear.