Final Toll: 5 Dead, More Than 40 Injured in Parade Tragedy in Wisconsin

Five people were killed and more than 40 were injured after a driver in an SUV plowed through a holiday parade in Waukesha, Wis., on Sunday, officials said.

The number of those dead and injured could increase as more information is gathered, the Waukesha Police Department said early Monday morning.

Authorities have recovered the driver’s vehicle and have taken one person into custody, Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said at a news conference Sunday evening. He did not comment on a possible motive behind the attack.

Waukesha Fire Chief Steven Howard said first responders activated their “mass casualty protocols” and took 23 people to hospitals, including 12 children. Additional people were transported to medical facilities by the police and family members, he said.

The vehicle broke through barricades about 4:40 p.m. local time, roughly 40 minutes after the parade began. In interviews, witnesses recounted the terrifying scene after the vehicle barreled into the crowd, shattering the festive mood at the annual parade in Waukesha, about 20 miles west of Milwaukee.

Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly participated in the parade and described a jubilant atmosphere that quickly turned nightmarish. “Today we experienced a horrible, senseless tragedy,” he said. “I walked in the parade at the beginning. I saw all the happy children sitting on the curb. I saw all the happy parents behind their children. I can still see the smiling faces.”

In video of the parade streamed by the city to its Facebook page, the SUV is seen speeding down the parade route seconds after a marching band had passed. Onlookers screamed at the sight of the vehicle barreling down Main Street, whizzing past a Jeep that was outfitted in lights, as a police officer chased the SUV on foot.

After the parade carried on for a few minutes, emergency vehicles sped by, sirens and lights blaring, as a group of children dancing with snowflake props tried to carry on with their performance.

A police officer fired at the SUV in an attempt to stop it, said Thompson, the police chief. No bystanders were injured by the gunfire, he said, adding that the authorities did not believe any shots were fired from the vehicle.

“We heard people screaming,” Zack Heisler, a Milwaukee resident at the parade with his family, told The Washington Post. “It sounded like excitement, and the screaming sounded closer, then it sounded like terror. People sounded scared.” Heisler said he saw a car “flying past us” and “people flying everywhere.”

Thompson said Sunday evening that the investigation was still “very fluid.” He said it was “unknown at this time whether the incident has any nexus to terrorism.” The FBI said it was assisting local authorities in the investigation.

Kaylee Staral, an intern at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper, attended the parade with her family, who took their spots next to parents and children with candy bags and blankets.

Minutes later, the SUV shot past Staral and her family, and they watched as it rammed into participants. She counted four people injured on the pavement in front of her. All around, people were screaming and crying as they rushed into stores for shelter and tried to help those injured.

“Everyone was just watching the parade go by and having a good time,” Staral said. “I don’t think anyone expected anything like this to happen.”

Corey Montiho, a Waukesha School District board member, was with his family at the parade, where his daughter’s dance team was performing. They were watching a high school marching band when the vehicle plowed through, hitting several of his daughter’s team members, he said. People scrambled to help, he said. “I saw bodies and kids and dads not breathing,” Montiho said. His daughter was not injured, but many of her teammates were in critical condition early Monday morning, he said.

Montiho said he had made eye contact with the man driving the SUV, describing him as “calm and composed.”

The episode shocked the community of more than 70,000 just days before Thanksgiving. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee said in a statement that one of its priests, as well as multiple Waukesha Catholic School students and members of the church, were among those injured.

The Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, which describes itself as a “group of grannies that meet once a week” to practice dance routines for parades, said its members were also injured. “Please keep the Grannies, all those injured, and all those who witnessed this horrible event in your thoughts and prayers,” the group said in a Facebook post.

Scott Walker, former governor of Wisconsin, said his mother attended the parade and watched the SUV drive past. She left before it collided with people, but people soon came running past her, Walker said on Twitter. “She said it felt like the images of people running in NYC on 9/11,” Walker said.

School was canceled on Monday for students in the Waukesha School District, the superintendent said in a note, adding that counselors were to be provided on Monday at school buildings for students in need of support.

Gov. Tony Evers said he and his wife were “praying for Waukesha tonight and all the kids, families and community members affected by this senseless act.”

(c) 2021, The Washington Post · Reis Thebault, Andrea Salcedo, Bryan Pietsch 

{Matzav.com}