(TheConservativeNews.org) – Police have released the suspect accused of plowing his vehicle into 25 law enforcement recruits as they were out for an early morning training run in California.
Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez, 22, was arrested for attempted murder on Thursday morning but was released by authorities later that night because of the “extreme complexity” of the investigation.
“Due to the extreme complexity of the investigation, which includes ongoing interviews, video surveillance review, and additional evidence needed to be analyzed, homicide investigators have released Mr. Gutierrez from the Sheriff’s Department custody,” authorities said in a release.
LA County Sheriff’s Deputy Deanna Mares told CNN that Gutierrez was sprung because investigators need more time to collect evidence for the district attorney’s office.
“It’s not like they arrested the wrong suspect,” Mares told CNN. “They just want to make sure the investigation is going to be complete.”
Twitter users were outraged after the news broke, that the 22 year old would be released from jail.
The driver suffered only minor injuries.
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said there are only two recruits still in critical condition, fighting for their lives. One of the recruits is on life support with serious brain bleeding and swelling — which is the biggest concern — and both recruits suffer from multiple leg fractures, he said.
“They went through an exhaustive interview process with everyone involved, with the video surveillance, statements from the recruits, the physical evidence they have, and what they got from the suspect himself, and they were able to form the opinion that this was a deliberate act,” Villanueva said.
“It was a bedlam, chaos, you know, there were bodies everywhere, bones sticking out and bleeding profusely. It was a pretty traumatic scene,” Villanueva said. “In fact, the paramedics that were there had never seen something of that scale. It was almost like an airplane accident, but everyone was alive, thankfully.”
An investigation into this incident is still ongoing, but the driver should have stayed in custody while the investigation is conducted.
