Car plows into auction crowd, killing at least 3

BILLERICA, Mass. — A SUV being shown to prospective buyers at a crowded indoor auto auction suddenly accelerated with a screech of its tires and crashed through a wall Wednesday morning, killing three people and injuring nine.

An auction employee in his 70s was behind the wheel of the 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee when it apparently lurched out of control and mowed people down at LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica, about 20 miles northwest of Boston.

Two of those injured suffered lifethreatening injuries, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said. The driver wasn’t hospitalized.

“The preliminary investigation suggests this is a tragic accident,” she said.

Orlando Aponte identified one of the three people killed as his sister, Leezandra Aponte, who was in her 30s, lived in Lowell and had three children. He said it was her first day working at LynnWay.

“Her first day on the job, and this is what happens,” he said.

Woody Tuttle, an auto auction employee, told WCVB-TV that the building has eight lanes in which vehicles on the auction block are lined up.

There were hundreds of people in the building, and some were standing between the lanes when the vehicle took off, Tuttle said.

“I heard a screeching of tires,” he said. “In avoiding the cars, whoever was driving this vehicle hit several people.”

The vehicle then went through the wall of the building, Tuttle said.