67-year-old woman killed, 14 people injured after SUV crashes through New Mexico thrift store
A 67-year-old woman was killed and 14 people were injured Tuesday morning when an SUV crashed through the façade of a New Mexico thrift store, police said.
The incident occurred around 10 a.m. and was caused by a 69-year-old driver of a 2015 Ford Explorer who "mistakenly pressed on the accelerator instead of the brake as she pulled into a parking space in front" of a Savers store, the Las Cruces Police Department said in a Facebook post.
"The vehicle jumped the curb and crashed through the façade," according to the department's post.
Emergency responders were dispatched to the collision and found 15 people injured inside the Savers store, police said.
Driver of the Ford Explorer not injured, police say
Investigators with the Las Cruces Police Department learned that the SUV went through the "glass and aluminum façade near the self-checkout area and veered right as it passed through the store," the Facebook post said.
The vehicle stopped near the southeast corner of the store’s showroom, according to police. The 69-year-old driver of the SUV was not physically injured in the crash, the social media post said.
Emergency crews tended to the injured people while Lac Cruces Fire "established triage at a casualty collection point outside the store," according to the Facebook post.
67-year-old woman 'succumbed to her injuries,' police say
Of the 15 injured individuals, 10 of them were taken to local hospitals, including Pamela Kaye Nelson. The 67-year-old woman "succumbed to her injuries," the department said.
The five other injured people declined to be taken to a hospital after being assessed by emergency personnel, according to the Facebook post.
The ages of the injured people range from 30 to 90 years old, police said. Two of the injured individuals were Savers employees, while the other 13 were customers, according to the department's social media post. Police later learned the driver of the Ford Explorer went to a local hospital on her own accord, the post continued.
Police did not release the names of the other injured people or the driver of the SUV. Due to the ongoing investigation, the parking lot in front of the Savers will be temporarily blocked and the store is going to be "closed for the time being," the Facebook post said.