A man in his 20s has been released with a promise to appear in court after allegedly driving a vehicle into a crowd at the Festival Western de Saint-Tite in Quebec, injuring six people, provincial police said.
The Surete du Quebec said the driver faces charges of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and fleeing the scene of a collision causing bodily harm, following an investigation into the early Saturday morning incident on Boulevard St-Joseph in the Mauricie region town, CTV News and CP24 reported Sunday.
Police told CTV News that the incident does not appear to have been premeditated and that alcohol has been ruled out as a factor. Investigators said the man had been involved in several altercations before he got behind the wheel, drove toward pedestrians and then fled the scene.
Six people, four men and two women between the ages of 17 and 21, were taken to hospital with injuries officials described as serious in some cases. All are expected to make a full recovery, CTV News reported, citing provincial police.
Quebec’s deputy premier, Ian Lafreniere, said Saturday the driver had been involved in what he called “a quarrel, a little fight” before leaving the scene, striking the pedestrians and being apprehended roughly an hour later in Quebec City, about 65 kilometres away, Global News reported. “We don’t have all of the details,” Lafreniere said at the time, adding it was unclear whether the collision was intentional.
Police received the initial call around 4:30 a.m. Saturday and located the suspect vehicle by about 5:30 a.m., according to Global News.
Boulevard St-Joseph, between Du Couvent and Du Moulin streets, has been closed to traffic since the incident and was expected to remain closed through Sunday as police continued their investigation, CTV News reported.
The collision happened on the closing weekend of the Festival Western de Saint-Tite, a two-week country and western event that organizers say draws roughly 600,000 visitors to the small Mauricie town each September and has been billed as North America’s best outdoor rodeo. Festival board chair Danielle St-Amand told local media the grounds are “extremely secure” and organizers had no plans to alter programming, Global News reported.
The festival, which began in 1967, typically wraps up with a large horse-drawn parade through the town of roughly 4,000 residents, an event that alone has drawn crowds of 100,000 in past years.
Quebec provincial police have not released the identity of the accused, who is scheduled to appear in court to face the charges. The investigation remains open. This report includes information from CTV News, CP24 and Global News.
