新年伊始，纽约北部一家娱乐场所外发生致命的火灾事故，目前正在尽可能地进行调查恐怖主义一名了解此案的执法人员告诉ABC新闻。
据该市警察局长大卫·史密斯说，一辆福特探险队撞上了一辆正在罗切斯特柯达中心附近停车场驶出的三菱欧蓝德，造成两人死亡，五人受伤。
史密斯说，碰撞发生在周一上午12点50分左右，在人行横道附近，当时音乐会观众正在离开场地。
史密斯在周一的新闻发布会上说:“碰撞的力量导致两辆车穿过一群在人行横道上的行人，然后撞上另外两辆车。”“罗切斯特消防部门花了近一个小时才扑灭了与坠机相关的大火。”
警长说，三菱欧蓝德的两名乘客死亡，司机被送往当地医院，没有生命危险。他说，福特探险队的司机因危及生命的伤势住院治疗。
史密斯说，在撞车事故中被撞的三名行人被送往当地医院，其中一人有生命危险，两人无生命危险。
没有关于受害者的更多细节被公布。
更多:元旦警察追逐中逆行司机打伤7名行人，1名警察
警察局长说，大火被扑灭后，第一反应人员在福特探险队内部和周围发现了至少12个汽油罐。
“我们正在继续与包括美国联邦调查局在内的联邦伙伴合作，以了解导致此次坠机的确切原因，”Smith说。
执法部门消息人士称，调查由联合反恐特遣部队领导。当局还不知道这是否是一起恐怖主义案件，但他们正在以这种方式调查，直到他们能确定发生了什么和为什么，该消息人士说。
消息人士称，调查人员目前正在查看福特探险队司机的设备和社交媒体，并与朋友和亲戚交谈，看他们能否拼凑出更多信息，解释为什么那里有这么多汽油罐。
执法官员向美国广播公司新闻证实，这名司机来自锡拉丘兹，他驾驶自己的车辆到锡拉丘兹机场，在那里他租了这辆超大的SUV。
官员们说，出事的三菱欧蓝德是一辆优步。
当地警方和罗切斯特市长马利克·埃文斯敦促人们提供信息。
“我知道社区将会有许多与此相关的问题。我请他们继续保持关注，”埃文斯在周一的简报会上说。"更多的信息将会尽我们所能公布出来."
美国广播公司新闻撰稿人理查德·弗兰克尔(Richard Frankel)表示，由于在现场发现了“大量”煤气罐，这起致命事件需要被视为“潜在的恐怖主义事件”，直到证明并非如此。
弗兰克尔说:“所有你不确定它们是什么，但有生命损失并且不能立即解释为事故的事件，都必须被视为恐怖主义，直到它们被证明不是恐怖主义。”
弗兰克尔曾领导美国联邦调查局在布法罗的办公室，是恐怖主义调查的专家，他说，这起事件也发生在执法部门已经担心国内政治和中东战争如何加剧全国各地的紧张局势的时候。
Deadly New Year's collision near Rochester, NY, venue being investigated as possible terrorism: Source
A deadly, fiery crash that occurred outside an entertainment venue in upstate New York early New Year's Day is being investigated as possibleterrorism, a law enforcement source briefed on the case told ABC News.
Two people were killed and five others injured after a Ford Expedition struck a Mitsubishi Outlander that was exiting a parking lot near the Kodak Center in Rochester, according to the city's police chief, David Smith.
The collision occurred around 12:50 a.m. on Monday near a crosswalk, as concertgoers were leaving the venue, Smith said.
"The force of the collision caused the two vehicles to go through a group of pedestrians that were in the crosswalk, and then into two other vehicles," Smith said at a press briefing on Monday. "There was a large fire associated with the crash that took the Rochester Fire Department almost one hour to extinguish."
Two occupants of the Mitsubishi Outlander were killed and the driver was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the chief said. The driver of the Ford Expedition was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, he said.
Three pedestrians struck in the crash were transported to a local hospital -- one in life-threatening condition and two with non-life-threatening injuries, Smith said.
No additional details on the victims have been released.
First responders found at least a dozen gasoline canisters in and around the Ford Expedition once the fire was extinguished, the police chief said.
"We are continuing to work with our federal partners, including the FBI, to learn exactly what led to this crash," Smith said.
The investigation is being led by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the law enforcement source said. Authorities do not yet know if this was a case of terrorism but they are investigating it that way until they can determine what happened and why, the source said.
Investigators are currently looking through the devices and social media of the driver of the Ford Expedition and are talking to friends and relatives to see if they can piece together additional information that might explain why there were so many gas cans there, the source said.
The driver is from Syracuse and drove his own vehicle to the Syracuse airport, where he rented the extra-large SUV, law enforcement officials confirmed to ABC News.
The Mitsubishi Outlander involved in the crash was an Uber, the officials said.
Local police and Rochester Mayor Malik Evans urged people to come forward with information.
"I know that the community will have lots of questions as it relates to this. I ask them to continue to stay tuned," Evans said during Monday's briefing. "More information will come out as we are able to."
ABC News contributor Richard Frankel said that due to the "numerous" gas cans found at the scene, the deadly incident would need to be looked at as a "potential terrorism matter" until proven otherwise.
"All matters where you're not sure of what they are, but there's loss of life and they can't be explained away immediately as an accident, have to be looked at as if they're terrorism until they're proven to not be terrorism," Frankel said.
Frankel, who previously led the FBI's office in Buffalo and is an expert in terrorism investigations, said the incident also comes at a time when law enforcement is already concerned about how domestic politics and the Middle East war have been inflaming tensions around the country.
