One dead, several victims 'mangled,' after man drove SUV into Boston area Apple store, pinning bodies against inside wall
A male driver sped into an Apple store in the Boston area on Monday morning, killing one and injuring at least 17 people.
What are the details?
911 calls began to pour in from the neighboring Derby Street shops around 10:45 a.m., after a man drove a black SUV through the front plate-glass window of an Apple store in the Boston suburb of Hingham, reported the Independent.
The driver struck multiple people inside the establishment.
The Hanover Fire Department indicated shortly after the incident that multiple people were "injured/trapped."
\u201c#HFD C-8 is responding with the Plymouth County Tech Rescue Team to 94 Derby Street, the Derby Street Shoppes, for the technical rescue activation. Motor vehicle into a building with multiple injured/trapped.\u201d— Hanover Fire Department (@Hanover Fire Department) 1669047124
Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz suggested that some victims had been pinned to the inside wall of the store.
Firefighters appeared to have helped someone trapped under the vehicle inside the store.
Some bystanders reportedly leapt into action to provide aid to those injured both inside and outside the store right after the incident.
One male victim has been confirmed dead.
A statement issued by Apple suggested that the deceased may have been a "professional who was onsite supporting recent construction at the store."
WCVB reported that victims have been transported to various hospitals in the area.
South Shore Health is presently treating 17 victims for various injuries, including head trauma and "mangled" limbs. The hospital's chief of trauma, Dr. Christopher Burns, indicated that multiple patients have life-threatening injuries, meaning the death count may soon rise.
\u201cVehicle crashes into Mass. Apple store https://t.co/X63JLvQOx7\u201d— WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB-TV Boston) 1669047156
Cruz said that the driver was being interviewed by police and that a criminal investigation is underway, suggestive that this may have been an intentional attack.
One witness claimed that while the driver appeared to have been injured in the crash, the man had nevertheless been alert.
The district attorney said, "this morning was an unthinkable morning, and people are trying to get through it and process what happened."
Alarming images are presently circulating revealing a gaping hole in the front window of the Apple store. Shattered glass and what appears to be blood stains can also be seen on the ground near the entry point.
\u201cJust getting this picture from a contact in Hingham, MA and the rescues underway right now. I\u2019m being told four people are trapped in the Apple store. @boston25\u201d— Blair Miller (@Blair Miller) 1669047691
One witness who was nearby the store at the moment of impact told NBC10 that "all of a sudden we hear this, I don't want to say explosion but a bang, a very loud bang. So we jumped up from the table and we looked out the window and we could see the hole in the Apple Store."
Police began attempting to remove the SUV lodged inside the building around 3 p.m. Footage shows HPD preparing the break more glass to retrieve the vehicle:
\u201cHingham Police say they need to break the plate glass window in order to remove the SUV inside the Apple Store because it\u2019s too dangerous.#Boston25\u201d— John Monahan (@John Monahan) 1669061215
Hingham fire chief Steve Murphy said that the building commissioner and the Plymouth County Technical Rescue Team have indicated that the structural integrity of the building has not been compromised.
\u201cHere\u2019s another angle showing where the car drove through the glass @NBC10\u201d— Joanna Bouras (@Joanna Bouras) 1669057948
State Senator Patrick O’Connor (R) tweeted, "My thoughts are with those who have been injured and impacted by the incident at the Hingham Derby Street Shops this morning. Sadly, there are reports of at least one individual having passed due to injuries on the scene and my prayers are with their family."