Car Slams Into Crowd, Killing 4, After Troopers Fail to Stop It

A car plowed into a crowd in a historic neighborhood of Tampa early Saturday, killing four people and injuring 11, after police were unable to stop the speeding, erratically driven vehicle. The 22-year-old driver lost control of his car just after midnight and ran into people waiting outside a bar in the Ybor City neighborhood, NBC News reports. Three people died at the scene, and a fourth died at a nearby hospital. Nine others remained hospitalized later on Saturday, one of them in critical condition. Two more people with minor injuries declined medical care.

Police said they had spotted the vehicle racing on another street from the air earlier. Florida Highway Patrol vehicles attempted to stop it, at one point employing a PIT maneuver, in which a police car intentionally bumps the back of a fleeing vehicle to cause it to spin out and stop. When that failed, the troopers backed off as the driver headed into a busy area, per NPR. Law enforcement authorities said the driver, whom they've identified as Silas Sampson, continued at high speeds until crashing into a business and a group of 15 adults. Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw called the crash a "senseless tragedy," adding, "Reckless driving put innocent lives in danger."