A car fleeing police slams into a bar in Florida, killing 4 and injuring 11

A speeding car fleeing police slammed into a crowded bar early Saturday, killing four people and injuring 11 in a historic district of Tampa, Florida, that is known for its nightlife and tourists.

An air patrol unit spotted the silver sedan driving recklessly on a freeway at about 12:40 a.m. after it was seen street racing in another neighborhood, the Tampa Police Department said in a statement.

The Florida Highway Patrol caught up with the vehicle and tried to perform a PIT maneuver, which involves bumping the rear fender to cause a spinout, but it was unsuccessful.

Highway patrol officers “disengaged” as the vehicle sped toward historic Ybor City near downtown, police said, and ultimately the driver lost control and hit more than a dozen people outside the bar, Bradley's on 7th.

Three people died at the scene, and a fourth died at a hospital. As of Saturday afternoon, two people were hospitalized in critical condition, seven were listed as stable and two had been treated and discharged, police said. Additionally there were two people who had only minor injuries and declined treatment at the scene.

“What happened this morning was a senseless tragedy, our hearts are with the loved ones of the victims and all those who were impacted,” Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement.

Officers identified the suspect as 22-year-old Silas Sampson, who was booked Saturday and was being held at the Hillsborough County Jail.

Court documents show Sampson was charged with four counts of vehicular homicide and four counts of aggravated fleeing or eluding with serious bodily injury or death, all first-degree felonies.

No attorney was immediately listed for Sampson who could speak on his behalf.

“Our entire city feels this loss,” Mayor Jane Castor, who also served as Tampa's first female police chief, said on social media. She added that the investigation is ongoing.

In recent years some states and local agencies have pushed to restrict high-speed car chases to protect both civilians and officers. Following a rise in fatalities, a 2023 study funded by the U.S. Department of Justice called for chases to be rare, saying the dangers often outweigh the immediate need to take someone into custody.

Nevertheless, Florida's highway patrol has loosened limits on car chases and PIT maneuvers, tactics that the Justice Department-backed report characterized as “high-risk” and “controversial.”

Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Denis Ramsey cries during a vigil for the victims of an overnight crash of a vehicle involved in a high speed chase, which caused several deaths and multiple injuries at Bradley's on 7th, a popular LGBTQ+ nightclub, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Law enforcement investigate a car crash on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Law enforcement investigates a car crash scene on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A vehicle that crashed into a local business is towed away, while law enforcement investigate the scene on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

People clean up the damage from a car that crashed into a local business, while law enforcement investigate the scene on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A car that crashed into a local business is shown on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

NEW DELHI (AP) — India has begun the world’s largest national population count, which could reshape welfare programs and political representation across the country.

The previous census in 2011 recorded a population of 1.21 billion. It's now estimated to be more than 1.4 billion, making India the most populous nation.

The new census had been planned for 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and logistical challenges.

Here’s how India’s census works and why it is significant:

The first phase of the count started Wednesday and will roll out around the country through September. The workers will spend about a month in each area collecting information on homes and available facilities and will document housing stock and living conditions.

The exercise will blend in-person surveys with a digital option where residents can submit information through a multilingual smartphone application that integrates satellite-based mapping.

The second phase to be conducted from September to next April 1 will record more detailed information like people's social and economic characteristics, including religion and caste.

More than 3 million government workers are expected to be deployed over the course of the year. In 2011, nearly 2.7 million enumerators surveyed more than 240 million households nationwide.

The second phase of the census will attempt a broader accounting of caste beyond historically marginalized groups.

Caste is an ancient system of social hierarchy in India and is influential in defining social standing and deciding who gets access to resources, education and economic opportunity. There are hundreds of caste groups based on occupation and economic status across India, particularly among Hindus, but the country has limited or outdated data on how many people belong to them.

The last attempt to gather detailed caste information through a census dates to 1931, during British colonial rule. Since independent India’s first census in 1951, it counted only Dalits and Adivasis, members of marginalized groups known as scheduled castes and tribes.

Successive governments have resisted conducting a full caste count, arguing it could heighten social tensions and trigger unrest.

Population data collected through the census underpins the distribution of government welfare programs and a wide range of public policies.

It could also prompt a redrawing of India’s political map, as seats in the lower house of Parliament and state legislatures may be increased to reflect population growth. A 2023 law reserves one-third of legislative seats for women, so any expansion would raise the number of seats set aside for female representatives.

Irfan Ahmad checks census registration online at a registration center as the street is reflected on the glass in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

A Muslim woman checks her census registration online at a registration center in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

FILE -Mahesh Shah, left, stands as his family members look while census worker Rumima Das, writes the information on a paper on the first day of the national census at Ramsingh Chapori village, east of Gauhati, India, April 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)

FILE - Indians crowd ticket counters at a railway station in Ahmadabad, India, Oct. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)