Driver faces murder chargers after car hits crowd at SWSW club

VIDEO - A suspected drunken driver faces capital murder charges after striking a crowd outside a downtown Austin, Texas, club used as a venue for the South By Southwest digital conference, police said...

A suspected drunken driver faces capital murder charges after striking a crowd outside a downtown Austin, Texas, club used as a venue for the South By Southwest digital conference, police said.

A man and a woman died and 23 others were injured — two of them in critical condition — when the gray Toyota Civic plowed through a barricade close to The Mohawk just after 12:30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET) Wednesday.

 The driver has been identified as 21-year-old Rashad Charjuan Owens, reported NBC affiliate KXAN. Aside from two counts of capital murder, he also faces multiple counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle.

Police said the female deceased, who lived locally, was killed while riding on the back of a moped. The moped driver was in stable condition.

The male deceased — identified as Steven Craenmehr, 35, of the Netherlands — was riding a bicycle, KXAN said.

Earlier reports had said both of those killed were on the moped.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said the driver was trying to evade police at the time of the crash.

Click here to read the rest of this story on NBC News.

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