A road closed off at SXSW is nothing new, but this is different.
A car drove through a barricade and killed two people and injured 23 others outside of a club in Austin, Texas at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday night.
The crash occurred outside The Mohawk, at the corner of E. 10th St. and Red River St. while the band X was performing, and a crowd had lined up to see Tyler the Creator.
The Odd Future rapper tweeted upon hearing of the accident, “Show Isnt Happening, Something Sad Happened. I’m Bummed.”
That “Something Sad” all started when a driver allegedly weaved his car through a gas station to avoid being checked for DWIs, according to Austin Police. The officer pursued the suspect, whose name has not yet been released, and the suspect turned down a street that was blocked off.
The two who were killed, a man and a woman, were reportedly on a moped and were pronounced dead at the scene. Their names have not been released either.
Austin before sunrise is often deserted, populated only by those loading in equipment for the next day’s show under the cover of darkness, but at 6 a.m. police lights still cast an eerie pall over the usual calm after the storm. Pedestrians were forbidden from going to the scene of the crime or setting up a makeshift memorial.
Joseph Cortez, who works at a gyro stand two blocks away from where the crash took place, said he heard the sirens above the usual din of music.
“There were like 10 people who were talking about it, that a drunk driver plowed through a barricade,” he said.
Jackie Santana, who works security at Stubbs, a club right down the street, said the incident was a tragedy, but she doesn’t think it will dampen the spirits of the thousands who come to the city to experience SXSW.
“I think people will probably be more cautious,” she said, “but I don’t think it will change the vibe at all. People will just be more aware of what’s going on.”
