There was a tragic incident in downtown Seattle on Thursday, the Seattle Times reported. At 11:55 am, a shuttle van jumped the curb onto a busy street, hitting a number of pedestrians before crashing into a building. Police say at least six people have been hospitalized and four other pedestrians were struck by the vehicle. The accident occurred at Fifth Avenue and Pine Street.
In the world we presently occupy, events like this one tend to rouse fears as far as motive is concerned. Those fears are certainly justified, as terror groups such as ISIS have begun encouraging vehicular attacks in lieu of something more coordinated. It was just this past Halloween that a terrorist sped down a Manhattan bike path. ISIS-inspired Sayfullo Saipov killed 8 people and injuring over a dozen more, before crashing into a school bus at Chambers St. Earlier this year, similar attacks rocked multiple European cities, including Barcelona, London, Paris, and Stockholm.
However, it appears as though what happened in Seattle today was simply a very unfortunate accident. Police have noted that the driver’s actions do not appear to have been intentional. Rather, the Shuttle Express driver is said to have suffered some kind of medical emergency and lost control of the vehicle.
Police also noted that the driver did not run a red light. Based on video footage of the incident, Assistant Police Chief Marc Garth Green noted, “The van did not accelerate. There was nothing obvious to make this an intentional or deliberate act; it just idles and then rolls through.”
