SUV plows into crowd

WORLD CRIME

MELBOURNE, Australia — The driver of an SUV who plowed into a crowd on a busy Melbourne street Thursday, injuring 19 people, was mentally ill, Australian officials said, describing the attack as a deliberate “act of evil” but not terrorism.

“This is a terrible, evil, cowardly act and one that will be condemned by all Victorians,” Daniel Andrews, the premier of Victoria State, said hours after the perpetrator drove a white Suzuki SUV through a busy intersection.

Australian police could point to no motive for the attack, which paralyzed the city’s heart at the end of the workday, as it was teeming with people heading home or doing holiday shopping. Among the injured was an off- duty police officer who arrested the driver. Four of the 19 victims admitted to hospitals were in critical condition, the authorities said.

Shane Patton, Victoria’s acting police commissioner, described the driver as a 32- year- old Australian citizen of Afghan descent. He was known to the authorities and had a history of criminal assault and drug abuse, according to Patton, who said the man was being treated for a mental illness.

“At this time we do not have any evidence or any intelligence to indicate there is a connection with terrorism,” Patton said.

The suspect, who resisted arrest, was the only person in the vehicle, Patton said.

A second man was also arrested at the scene, after police found him filming the crash and carrying a bag of knives. Patton said the man was in custody but was not believed to be connected to the attack.