Police are on the lookout for an “older white male” suspect who allegedly drove his vehicle through a group of migrant workers gathered outside a North Carolina Walmart.
Just after 1:15 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, a busload of migrant workers alighted from a white bus in the parking lot of a Walmart in Lincolnton, North Carolina, about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte. According to Spectrum Local News, the men work at the Knob Creek Orchard in Lawndale, North Carolina, and make this bus trip to the Walmart parking lot every week.
Shortly after the men got off the bus and stood underneath some shady trees on a nearby median, the driver of a black SUV made a quick turn onto the median where the men were standing and plowed through them. The shocking incident was caught on the store’s surveillance footage. Police have since released a portion of the surveillance video to the public in hopes of identifying the individual responsible.
The black SUV in the top portion of the video can be seen turning right in front of the bus and then accelerating onto the embankment in the upper left.
In a statement, Lincolnton police described the suspect as an “older white male” and claimed that the incident appeared “to be an intentional assault with a vehicle.” They also released grainy images of the vehicle, described as “an older model mid-size black Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) with a luggage rack.”
Six migrant workers suffered “various injuries” in the incident, the police statement said, and were immediately transported to Atrium Health Lincoln hospital for treatment. Thankfully, none of the injuries were life-threatening, and all six men were discharged from the hospital the same day. The possible “motives of the suspect are still under investigation,” the statement said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has already suggested that the attack was a hate crime and called for a federal investigation. “Because of the persistent anti-immigrant hate we have witnessed nationwide in recent years, we urge local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to probe a possible bias motive for this alleged attack,” said Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director and spokesman for CAIR. Whether any of the victims identify as Muslim is unclear.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Lincolnton Police Department at (704) 736-8900 and speak with Detective M. Diallo.
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