Deadly New Year’s Car Explosion Not Terrorism: Investigators

Investigators found no evidence of domestic terrorism in a deadly car crash and explosion that happened outside a New Year’s concert in Rochester, New York that killed two people and injured nine others. The suspect, 35-year-old Michael Avery from Syracuse, also died, according to CNN.

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We previously reported that Avery crashed his rented Ford Expedition full of gas canisters into a Mitsubishi Outlander Uber pulling out of a parking lot near the Kodak Center in Rochester just as about 1,000 people were filing out of a New Year’s Eve show by the rock band Moe. A couple inside the Uber was killed in the crash. The Expedition continued and hit a Toyota C-HR. Then, the two vehicles slid through a group of pedestrians that were in a crosswalk. That’s when the cars exploded into an “intense blaze” according to the New York Post. When the fire was extinguished, investigators found at least a dozen gas cans scattered around the pavement and in the Expedition.

The incident was first being looked at as possible domestic terrorism, but that’s very much no longer the case. Here’s the latest on the investigation and the decision to drop the possible domestic terrorism investigation, from CNN:

Officials by Tuesday morning had found no evidence that Avery acted on “political or social biases” in the incident, in which two vehicles – one laden with gas canisters – crashed before plowing into the crowd outside the concert at Rochester’s Kodak Center, Rochester Police Chief David M. Smith said.

“So far we’ve uncovered no evidence of an ideology and no nexus to terrorism, either international or domestic,” FBI agent Jeremy Bell said at a news conference Tuesday.

Still, domestic terrorism is still being looked at as a possible motive in the case, law enforcement sources told CNN.

The FBI defines domestic terrorism as involving acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of US or state laws, appearing to be intended to intimidate or coerce civilians, influence the policy of government by intimidation or coercion, or affect the conduct of government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.

Photo: Rochester Police Department

Now, investigators are interviewing Avery’s family, according to CNN. They believed that he was bipolar, though he didn’t have an official diagnosis.

The two victims in the Uber were identified by police as 28-year-old Justina Huges of Geneva, New York and 29-year-old Joshua Orr of Webster, New York. Her family said she was a beautiful free spirit” who cared deeply for her friends and family, according to CNN. Orr’s family said he was a “beautiful, general human, filled with love and positivity.”

Here’s a timeline of events, from CNN:

Avery traveled to Rochester in his personal vehicle around December 27 and checked into the WoodSpring Suites hotel, authorities say.

He rented a Ford Expedition from a rental agency at the Rochester airport during the afternoon of December 29, Smith said at Tuesday’s news conference.

The next day, Avery made at least six purchases of gasoline and gas containers between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Around 12:52 a.m. on New Year’s Day, Smith said, Avery was driving near the theater in the rented Ford SUV.

“At this time Avery sped up, crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic and appears to have intentionally been driving towards the pedestrian crossing,” Smith said.

This is still a developing story, and Jalopnik will continue to give updates as more information becomes available.