FBI: No evidence of terrorism so far in fiery NY car crash
Law enforcement officials said Tuesday they have so far found no evidence suggesting any terrorist activity was involved in the planning or executing of the fiery car crash that took place outside the Kodak Center in Rochester, N.Y., shortly after midnight Jan. 1.
At a press conference Tuesday, Rochester Police Chief David Smith identified the suspect as 35-year-old Michael Avery, a resident of Syracuse. Smith confirmed Avery died Monday night, becoming the third fatality from the crash.
Smith said Avery’s motive was still unknown but that so far there was no evidence the suspect was motivated by any form of political or social biases.
“At this time, we’ve not been able to identify that there was anyone else involved in the crime or that it was part of a larger plot,” Smith said. “Additionally, we have not uncovered any information leading us to believe that the actions of Michael Avery on New Year’s Eve were motivated by any form of political or social biases.”
Jeremy Bell, the Rochester FBI bureau’s special agent in charge, confirmed no links to terrorism have so far been uncovered.
“I can confirm our Joint Terrorism Task Force is involved, but that’s not abnormal in a case like this,” Bell said. “What I can tell you is so far we’ve uncovered no evidence of an ideology and no nexus to terrorism, either international or domestic so far in the investigation.”
Bell said the FBI will “absolutely” remain involved in the investigation.
“The FBI, and our Joint Terrorism Task Force will see this investigation through to its end with the [Rochester Police Department] and our law enforcement partners,” he said. “But again, that’s not abnormal. It’s something we do in all the cases such as this one.”
The crash occurred early New Year’s Day. One car struck another that was exiting a nearby parking lot, killing the second vehicle’s two passengers, Smith said Monday. The collision also caused the two cars to “go through” a group of pedestrians in a nearby crosswalk and into two other vehicles, he said, and resulted in a large fire.
At least a dozen gasoline canisters were discovered in and around the vehicle after the fire was extinguished, Smith said Monday.
The police chief recounted the findings so far of the investigation into the crash Tuesday. He said Avery appears to have traveled to Rochester in his personal vehicle on or around Dec. 27 and checked into a hotel in the suburban town of Greece, N.Y.
At about 2:45 p.m. Dec. 29, Avery rented the Ford Expedition from a car rental agency at the Rochester airport, and Dec. 30 he made “at least have a dozen purchases of gasoline and gas containers from different locations throughout the Monroe County and Ontario County areas,” Smith said, adding, “Thus far our information has shown he was alone when making these purchases.”
Since the investigation began, officials have executed two search warrants: one on Avery’s hotel room and one on his personal vehicle at the airport. Smith said there was no suicide note in the hotel room, and officials were still examining items from Avery’s vehicle, though nothing yet provided additional insight into the motivation.
Smith said while the motive is still “unknown,” police have been talking to Avery’s family and “the conversations we’ve had with his family so far leads us to believe that Avery may have been suffering from possible undiagnosed mental health issues.”
“At this time, we’ve not been able to identify that there was anyone else involved in the crime or that it was part of a larger plot,” he said.
From reviewing the footage from the car crash, however, Smith said one can “clearly see” the vehicle sped up as it approached the pedestrians. At that time, the second vehicle, a ride-share car, pulled out of the theater’s parking garage and was struck by the rented vehicle.
In addition to the three fatalities, the number of people that have reported injuries has increased to nine individuals as of Tuesday.
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