Rashad Charjuan Owens Identified As Suspect In SXSW Crash That Killed 2, Injured 23


Rashad Charjuan Owens, a 21-year-old man from Kileen, Texas, has been identified as the suspect in the SXSW crash in downtown Austin that killed two people and injured 23.

Owens is accused of plowing into a crowd of people waiting for a concert at the annual music and film festival in Austin. Police say he sped away from a drunk driving checkpoint and turned the wrong way down a one-way street.

Police took Rashad Charjuan Owens into custody early Thursday morning, charging him with two counts of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault, a spokesperson for the the Austin Police Department said.

The crash was caught on film by several onlookers, showing a chaotic scene with people injured along the length of the street. A bicyclist and a person riding a moped were killed.

The bicyclist was later identified as 35-year-old Steven Craenmehr, an employee of the Amsterdam-based music booking and promotion agency MassiveMusic.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our close friend and colleague Steven Craenmehr, 35, on March 13th, 2014 at SXSW,” the company said Thursday in a statement. “During the 8 years that Steven worked for MassiveMusic, we got to know him as an unstoppable force, full of life, love and laughter.

“This is an irreplaceable loss for the MassiveMusic family and we are grateful for the years we spent with him. Our thoughts are with Steven’s family and friends.”

Several people remain in critical condition, but officials from SXSW said the crash could have been much worse.

“We appreciate and commend the first responders, as well as the city agencies who so quickly sprung into action,” a statement from festival organizers read.”We will be making schedule and venue changes for programming in the surrounding area of last night’s events. All other programming will continue as previously scheduled.”

[Image Via KVUE TV]

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