Tragedy struck a California community when a man intentionally drove his car onto a sidewalk near a high school, hitting and killing one student and injuring three others.
The suspect, Austin Eis, 24, has since been arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
The incident took place shortly before 3:40 p.m. on April 18, near the corner of Lakeview Canyon Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard, across from the Westlake High School campus in Thousand Oaks.
According to witnesses, Eis deliberately drove onto the sidewalk and plowed into four students before his car overturned. One of the victims, 15-year-old Wesley Welling, tragically lost his life, while two girls aged 16 and 14 and a 15-year-old boy were injured.
Eis has also been charged with two other incidents that took place earlier in the day. The first was an alleged stabbing at a Walmart in nearby Simi Valley, where he is accused of pepper-spraying and stabbing a male store worker before assaulting and trying to drag away a female employee.
The second was a domestic incident at his parents’ home in Camarillo, where he reportedly broke in, threatened several victims with a knife and brandished a firearm before fleeing.
Eis was treated for injuries before being taken into custody, and a firearm was recovered from his vehicle.
The Simi Valley Police Department is investigating the circumstances of the Walmart incident, and Eis is also facing charges of attempted robbery, resisting arrest, kidnapping, and felony use of tear gas. He appeared in court via Zoom on Thursday for his arraignment, where he was assigned a public defender and had his bail withdrawn due to the risk he posed to public safety.
The Westlake High School community is still reeling from the tragic loss of Wesley Welling, who was described by his mother as loved by many. A GoFundMe fundraiser for the Welling family has raised over $230,000 from thousands of donors.
Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko has promised to pursue justice and accountability on behalf of the victims and their families. Eis is scheduled to appear in court again on May 19, and the investigation into the incidents is ongoing.