--- description: Authorities in Austin, Texas, say a drunk driver was evading police early Tuesday when the car barreled into a temporary barricade for people gathered near the popular downtown nightclub The Mohawk, leaving two people dead and dozens injured title: SXSW: Two Killed, 23 Injured After Car Plows into Crowd Outside Club image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt828f511427a76f71/6986853955a859c550a7fb1a/sxsw.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [SXSW](/tag/sxsw/) ## SXSW Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Two Killed, Dozens Injured as Car Barrels Through Barricade at SXSW by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2014 8:03 AM CUT  Unidentified people are comforted after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Unidentified people are comforted after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014.Jay Janner—AP by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2014 8:03 AM CUT **Updated 8:29 PM EST** The carefree, congenial attitude synonymous with Austin’s [South By Southwest](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/police-2-dead-after-car-crashes-texas-crowd "undefined") (SXSW) music and media festival took a tragic turn when two people were killed and dozens injured just after midnight Thursday near a strip of music venues in the Texas capital. Austin authorities said that a [drunk driver was evading police](http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/13/us/texas-sxsw-crash/index.html?hpt=hp%5Ft2 "undefined") when he barreled his car through a temporary barricade and plowed into a crowd of fans outside the popular The Mohawk nightclub in downtown. Prior to the accident, he had been driving the wrong way down a one way street. Austin police have reportedly taken the driver, [who they identified as Rashad Charjuan Owens](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-sxsw-austin-car-hits-crowd-20140313,0,6321397.story "undefined"), into custody, and Austin Police chief Art Acevedo says that he faces two charges of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault. The names of the deceased and injured have yet to be officially released. “We had a large crowd,”[ Acevedo said](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/03/13/at-least-2-killed-23-hurt-after-car-plows-into-crowd-near-south-by-southwest/ "undefined"). “I just thank God that a lot of the folks had already been pushed on the sidewalk or this could have been a lot worse.” The crowd was waiting in line for a [performance by rapper Tyler the Creator.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2579921/Two-killed-23-injured-SXSW-festival-suspected-drunk-driver-fleeing-arrest-crashes-barricade-crowded-street.html "undefined") The rapper [tweeted a sad face emoticon](https://twitter.com/fucktyler/status/444014100394147840 "undefined") early Thursday morning. “It looked like something out of a movie,” [Russ Barone told CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/13/us/texas-sxsw-crash/index.html?hpt=hp%5Ft2 "undefined"). “A few people lying on the street … with their friends around them trying to get them up, trying to get them back to life. Hopefully, they are.” Some witnesses posted videos on YouTube, although [Acevedo is encouraging them](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/13/two-dead-car-hit-crowd-south-by-southwest-festival-austin-sxsw "undefined") to turn them into police rather than putting them on the internet. _This post was updated with the suspect’s name._ \[[AP](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/police-2-dead-after-car-crashes-texas-crowd "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/22893/two-killed-dozens-injured-as-car-barrels-through-barricade-at-sxsw/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/22893/two-killed-dozens-injured-as-car-barrels-through-barricade-at-sxsw/"},"headline":"Two Killed, Dozens Injured as Car Barrels Through Barricade at SXSW","datePublished":"2014-03-13T08:03:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:44:36.163Z","description":"Authorities in Austin, Texas, say a drunk driver was evading police early Tuesday when the car barreled into a temporary barricade for people gathered near the popular downtown nightclub The Mohawk, leaving two people dead and dozens injured","url":"https://time.com/22893/two-killed-dozens-injured-as-car-barrels-through-barricade-at-sxsw/","keywords":["SXSW","Car accident","Austin"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt828f511427a76f71/6986853955a859c550a7fb1a/sxsw.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt828f511427a76f71/6986853955a859c550a7fb1a/sxsw.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"South By Southwest Fatal Crash","caption":"South By Southwest Fatal Crash","creditText":"Jay Janner—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/sxsw/","name":"SXSW"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/22893/two-killed-dozens-injured-as-car-barrels-through-barricade-at-sxsw/","name":"Two Killed, Dozens Injured as Car Barrels Through Barricade at SXSW"}}]}] ```