Three die when truck rams into clinic

SANTA FE, N.M. – A pickup truck plowed through a plate-glass window at a medical clinic Friday, killing three people and injuring eight, authorities said.

The truck hurtled through the parking lot and drove as far as 30 feet into the storefront clinic.

“People were cut, dripping blood. I was shook up,” said Jimmy Ramsey, who was leaving a coffee shop nearby.

The cause of the crash at the clinic, Concentra Medical Centers, was under investigation. The truck driver was among the injured. She was not identified pending possible charges, said Deputy Police Chief Eric Johnson. He said alcohol was not believed to be a factor.

The dead were a receptionist at the clinic, Viviana E. Terrazas, 20; a patient, David Rodriguez, 17; and the teenager’s mother, 43-year-old Janell Lockhart Rodriguez, Johnson said. All were from Santa Fe.

Viviana Terrazas’ sister, Judith, said police told her the driver had a seizure before the crash and stepped on the gas instead of the brake pedal.

Physician’s assistant Ben Martinez was working in an exam room when he heard “a real loud bang, like an explosion.”

The driver and three others remained hospitalized with injuries. Two people were in critical condition. Four patients were treated and discharged.