Updated: 6:10 p.m.
NEWARK, Del. (KYW Newsradio) — Authorities in Newark have arrested and charged a New Castle man who they said struck and killed a University of Delaware graduate student and injured several others while fleeing officers in an overdue rental van.
Gordon Turner, 22, faces charges including two counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault. Police said he was driving a U-Haul van that was more than a month overdue. Officers located the van around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in a parking lot of a shopping center along East Main Street in Newark.
A rental that late is considered stolen. When Turner and another person were returning to the van, police attempted to make an arrest, but the two sped away.
Fleeing at a high rate of speed, police said Turner went over a curb and struck a police car. Newark officers did not engage in a vehicle pursuit, police emphasized.
Nonetheless, Turner drove at a high rate of speed along East Main Street, according to authorities, lost control of the van, and struck three pedestrians and several parked vehicles. At least five people inside two of those vehicles were injured.
Police said one of the pedestrians, a 24-year old University of Delaware graduate student, was killed. Another 24-year-old graduate student suffered serious injuries. Their identities have not been released. It isn’t clear how many inside the parked cars were students.
Turner was taken into custody at East Main and Center streets, having sustained serious injuries. Police found a handgun inside the van. The passenger was also arrested, but has not been charged.
Investigators also discovered Turner was a fugitive in three states: Pennsylvania, Maryland and Georgia.
University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis called the near-campus crash a “terrible tragedy.”
A memorial on Main Street has grown with flowers and messages asking the school to elevate crosswalks and install speed bumps.