by Investigators have identified the married couple killed Wednesday in a firefight near the US-Canada border that prompted a massive law enforcement response.
Kurt P. Villani and his wife Monica Villani, both 53, died in the car crash on the US side of the Rainbow Bridge crossing, the Niagara Falls Police Department said in a news release. The couple lived in Grand Island, New York, the police department said.
Relatives of the couple thanked for goodwill and asked the public for privacy.
“We would like to express our deepest gratitude to everyone who has offered prayers, condolences and well wishes,” family members said in a statement released by the Erie County Sheriff’s Office. “We are deeply touched. At this point, we are asking for privacy so we can begin the healing process. Thank you.”
CNN previously reported that investigators believed a man was traveling with his wife in a 2022 Bentley at a high rate of speed when the vehicle hit a curb, then a guardrail that sent the airborne vehicle into the Rainy Bridge secondary screening area, law enforcement sources said. CNN.
Despite initial concerns about a terror attack, the FBI found no connection to terrorism, and no explosives were found at the scene, the agency’s Buffalo field office. Announced Wednesday night. The case was handed over to local police as a traffic investigation.
“I want to be very clear to Americans and New Yorkers: At this time there is no sign of a terrorist attack,” said Gov. New York Kathy Hochul at a news conference Wednesday evening.
Investigators believe the man who died had plans to attend a KISS concert in Canada, but when it was cancelled, he went to a casino in the United States instead. The crash happened sometime after the couple left the casino, law enforcement sources said.
The explosion prompted the temporary shutdown of four bridges between Canada and the United States near Niagara Falls on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Three of the bridges reopened later on Wednesday, but the Rainbow Bridge remained closed overnight. The port reopened at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, US Customs and Border Protection said.
The accident seemed ‘surreal’, says the governor
The vehicle was traveling at an “extremely high rate of speed” when it crossed the border around 11:30 a.m. and hit a barrier, Hochul said.
The impact sent the car soaring several feet in the air before it crashed into a Customs and Border Protection booth and burst into flames, Hochul said. She described footage of the incident as “absolutely surreal”.
An officer working the booth was treated for minor injuries, she said.
The vehicle was “essentially burned,” and pieces of the wreckage were scattered across more than a dozen checkpoint booths, the governor said.
Rickie Wilson saw the car fly past him “almost like a movie,” and for a moment, he thought it was a plane, the witness told CNN affiliate WKBW.
The FBI investigated the explosion as a possible terrorist threat
After the crash, federal investigators did their best to determine if the incident was an act of terrorism. Within hours, officials shared preliminary findings and assured the public that they had found no indication of terrorist motivation.
“But we will continue to remain vigilant. We will continue to make sure that the information we have is passed on to the public,” U.S. Attorney Trini Ross of the Western District of New York said at a news conference.
US and Canadian leaders have been briefed on the incident as the investigation continues. The initial explosion also prompted heightened security precautions across the region, including the evacuation of local government offices on the US side.
Buffalo Niagara International Airport closed to incoming and outgoing international flights but later lifted the restriction, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration. All cars entering the airport were also being screened by bomb-sniffing dogs, a spokesperson for the Niagara Border Transportation Authority said. And Amtrak temporarily suspended part of its cross-border route connecting New York with Toronto.
Officers investigating the crash were looking for an individual, but working through the Joint Terrorism Task Force found no information of concern, FBI Special Agent Matthew Miraglia said Wednesday afternoon.
On Wednesday night, the FBI announced that it had completed its investigation at the scene and had turned the case over to the Niagara Falls Police Department as a traffic investigation.
CNN’s Zenebou Sylla, Pete Muntean, Raja Razek, Dave Alsup, Josh Campbell, Sabrina Souza and Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
