Driver, 2 others dead in fiery New Year’s Day crash in NY; FBI investigating

Investigators have found no connections to terrorism as they continue to investigate a deadly, apparently intentional crash that caused a massive fire early New Year’s Day in Rochester, New York.

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The crash, which happened outside the Kodak Center just before 1 a.m. Monday, killed three people, including a man suspected of causing the collision. At the time, a Grateful Dead tribute band was playing a show at the Kodak Center, Mayor Malik Evans said.

Authorities believe Michael Avery, 35, was driving a Ford Expedition near the venue when he sped up and crashed into a Mitsubishi Outlander that was leaving a nearby parking lot, police said. Two people inside the Outlander, which was identified as a ride-share vehicle, died in the collision, and nine others — including the Outlander’s driver and multiple pedestrians — were injured.

Avery, who is from Syracuse, died Monday night. Police Chief David Smith said he had yet to be “scientifically identified” on Tuesday, though officials continued work to confirm his identity.

Smith said that around Dec. 27, Avery traveled to Rochester and checked in at the WoodSpring Suites. Two days later, he left his vehicle at the airport, where he rented the Expedition. The next day, he spent hours buying gasoline and gas containers from at least a half-dozen places in Monroe and Ontario counties, police said.

He appeared to be alone while making those purchases, authorities said.

Video shows Avery apparently hitting the gas on the Expedition on Monday, while he was about 500 feet away from pedestrians outside the Kodak Center, Smith said. The chief added that Avery “appears to have intentionally been driving towards the pedestrian crossing.”

The collision caused the Expedition and the Outlander to plow through pedestrians that were crossing the street and then strike two other vehicles. It also sparked a blaze that took firefighters nearly an hour to extinguish. Afterward, Smith said first responders found “at least a dozen gasoline canisters in and around the striking vehicle.”

Local and federal officials, including the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, are investigating the crash.

“There are still many unanswered questions,” Evans said Tuesday. “We hope to provide updates as have them.”

Reports surfaced Tuesday that a journal and suicide note had been found in Avery’s hotel room, though officials said at a news conference that neither had been found.

“So far, we’ve uncovered no evidence of an ideology and no nexus to terrorism, either international or domestic, so far in the investigation,” said Jeremy Bell, the FBI special agent in charge of the local field office.

He added that it was “not abnormal” for the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force to assist local investigators “in a case like this.”

On Tuesday, it remained unclear what prompted the deadly incident.

“Although the motive behind the crime remains unknown, the conversations we’ve had with his family so far leads us to believe that Avery may have been suffering from possible undiagnosed mental health issues,” Smith said.

“At this time, we’ve not been able to identify that there was anyone else involved in the crime or that it was part of a larger plot. Additionally, we have not uncovered any information leading us to believe that the actions of Michael Avery on New Years Eve were motivated by any form of political or social biases.”

Authorities continue to investigate.

At a news conference Tuesday, Evans urged people to seek mental health help when necessary and to keep those impacted by the crash in their prayers.

“These folks were going to see a Grateful Dead tribute band, and they were expecting to be able to ring in the New Year and have a good time, but instead we have individuals that are now going to be burying family members, and we have people who have now life-altering injuries because of the choices that this suspect made,” Evans said.

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