NEW YORK — A woman and two of her children were killed by a car crash as they were crossing a street in Brooklyn on Saturday, and a third child was critically injured.
Police said a 32-year-old woman with a suspended license was driving an Audi that crashed into the four family members. Authorities were investigating whether she ran a red light and whether speed was a factor, and they also were doing a preliminary breath test for possible intoxication.
“I will call it like it is. This was a horrific tragedy caused by someone who shouldn’t have been on the road,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters. “A mother and two young children killed. Another child fighting for his life. A family and a neighborhood devastated.”
Tisch said the Audi rear-ended a Toyota around 1 p.m. Both drivers had minor injuries, as did another adult and three children in the Toyota. The Audi driver had to be extracted from the wreck.
The collision sent the Audi into the pedestrians, who were in the crosswalk before the vehicle overturned, authorities said. The 35-year-old woman and her 6- and 8-year-old daughters were pronounced dead at the scene, and the 4-year-old boy was hospitalized in critical condition.
Mayor Eric Adams, speaking at the same news conference, called it a “terrible, terrible accident” and “extremely concerning and painful.”