UPDATE: North Carolina driver charged with vehicular homicide after Milligan cycling team crash

First Judicial District Attorney General Steve Finney announced criminal charges were placed against a driver accused of driving into a pack of cycling athletes from Milligan University on Highway 19-E.

John Benfield, 69, of Newland, North Carolina, is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide by recklessness and five counts of aggravated assault, according to Finney who spoke at a Wednesday afternoon news conference.

Milligan President Stephen Wares said 11 members of the Buffaloes’ Cycling Team were on a practice run in the Tiger Alley section of Carter County when they were allegedly struck by Benfield’s car, killing Brayden Rogers of Huntsville, Alabama and Haydan Engdhal of Winthrop Harbor, Illinois.

A Ballad Health spokesperson said one Milligan team members has been treated and released while four remain hospitalized in critical condition with three of those students requiring surgical care when they were brought to Johnson City Medical Center. He noted that particular student will likely require additional surgery for his injuries.

Finney along with Major Roy Brown of the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Carter County Sheriff Mike Fraley said this remains an open investigation and more charges could be filed.

Benfield was being booked into the Carter County Jail in Elizabethton just after 5 p.m. Wednesday