A 16-year-old girl was killed and five people were injured early Saturday after a driver struck a small crowd gathered on a street in downtown Minneapolis, police said.
Authorities tracked the suspect in north Minneapolis and arrested 22-year-old Latalia Anjolie Margalli. She was booked into Hennepin County jail on suspicion of murder.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a news conference that it was unclear if alcohol was involved or whether Margalli was driving with a suspended license.
But O’Hara said there’s “no question” that she meant to use her vehicle as a weapon.
“The video of this is absolutely horrific. There aren’t words to describe how tragic and senseless it is to lose a 16-year-old female over something like this,” said O’Hara, adding that at least a dozen people stood in the vehicle’s path. “However, we are thankful because it’s clear we could have had more fatalities and more people injured.”
Police said the incident began after a fight among Margalli and others around midnight in the middle of N. 5th Street at Hennepin Avenue. She allegedly got into an SUV, drove in reverse down Hennepin, then the wrong way on 5th Street and into a crowd of people, police said.
Video of the incident on social media shows the SUV pause before rolling through the crowd, running over some people and driving away as screams echoed down Hennepin Avenue.
Other video seems to show Margalli’s SUV idling about an hour before the incident while a woman dances on her hood. Police Sgt. Garrett Parten said the vehicle appears to be hers but could not confirm it was since the investigation was underway.
