Driver Appears To Run Down Migrant Workers In NC, Injuring 6: Police

Police in North Carolina say an SUV struck six migrant workers outside a Walmart store on Sunday in what appeared to be an intentional assault.

The six people were transported to a local hospital with various non-life-threatening injuries following the incident in Lincolnton, a town northwest of Charlotte, around 1:17 p.m., police said.

Surveillance video obtained by NBC News shows the vehicle turn toward a parking spot outside the store as if to park. But instead of stopping, the vehicle drives over a tree-lined median where the group was standing near a parked bus and strikes them. The vehicle is then seen driving away from the scene.

Authorities are requesting help identifying the vehicle and driver, who was described as an older white male. The vehicle was a black, older-model, midsize SUV with a luggage rack.

“The motives of the suspect are still under investigation,” police said in a statement.

Police in Lincolnton did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

In May, an SUV slammed into a crowd of people waiting for a bus outside a migrant shelter in Brownsville, Texas, killing eight people and injuring 10 others.

Police said they were investigating witnesses’ claims that the driver, George Alvarez, made anti-immigrant statements after attempting to flee the scene. Alvarez was also accused of having cocaine, benzodiazepines and marijuana in his system.

A motive for the Brownsville incident, which resulted in multiple manslaughter charges, was not immediately known.