A festive holiday Waukesha parade on Sunday was stopped abruptly after a speeding SUV driver marched into the walking crowd, killing 5 and injuring more than 40. Those affected were part of the dance troupes and marching bands, including some other participants and on-lookers.
Waukesha alerts Twitter account also mentioned firing of shots after the incident occurred. From those hospitalized are 12 children and 11 adults, police chief Dan Thompson told the press. No specific details regarding patients have been reported until the families of those injured and deceased have been notified.
Live streaming of the Waukesha parade caught the unfortunate incident on camera, clearly showing the SUV speeding past people right into the marching band. Reporter Sam Kraemer tweeted the video, “This was recorded from the City of Waukesha’s Facebook account, which was streaming the parade. You can see a red SUV speed right past these band members, hear screams and then a law enforcement officer running.”
The Waukesha Public School District cancelled all classes 6 hours ago, waiting for an all-clear from the authorities. The suspect and person of interest from the incident is in custody, but there are no confirmations about the identity or motive. Later in the conference, police chief Thompson confirmed that the shots were not fired by the driver, but instead towards the SUV, in an attempt to stop the driver and the vehicle.
Thompson told the press, “an officer discharged his weapon at the suspect vehicle to try to stop the vehicle. No bystanders were injured as a result of the weapon discharge.”
Footage of the Waukesha parade from eyewitnesses on the scene is coming out. One Waukesha school district board member, Corey Montiho told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, his daughter’s dance team was hit in the incident, “There were pom-poms and shoes and spilled hot chocolate everywhere. I had to go from one crumpled body to the other to find my daughter. My wife and two daughters were almost hit. Please pray for everybody. Please pray. My family is safe but many are not. I held one little girl’s head in my hand, she was seizing and she was bleeding out of her ears. I held her mother as she collapsed. Please pray.”
Town mayor Shawn Reilly also held a press conference saying, “Today our community faced for tragedy in what should have been a community celebration. I’m deeply saddened to know that so many in our community went to a parade but ended up dealing with injury and heartache.”
