Waukesha Christmas parade: five dead and 40
injured after car speeds into crowd in Wisconsin
Person of interest held after ‘horrifying’ incident in
which SUV ploughed through street full of dance troupes, marching bands and
onlookers
Martin
Farrer and agencies
Mon 22 Nov
2021 06.17 GMT
A vehicle
has ploughed into crowds at a Christmas parade in a town in Wisconsin, killing
five people and injuring more than 40 adults and children, including some from
dance troupes and marching bands.
A red sport
SUV drove at speed into crowds in a “tragic incident” in Waukesha about 20
miles west of Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon, the town’s police chief, Dan
Thompson, told a media conference on Sunday night.
Eleven
adults and 12 children were taken to hospital, Thompson said, who declined to
give any more details about the casualties until families were notified.
“Some of
the individuals were children and there are some fatalities as a result of this
incident,” Thompson told reporters.
“We’re
working with the families, that is our priority in this tragic incident.”
The
investigation was still “very fluid”, he added, and he did not know if the
incident was terror-related. However, one person of interest was in custody and
the vehicle involved had been recovered.
In one
video posted on social media, a red SUV appears to speed toward marchers, and
in a second video police appear to open fire on the same vehicle as it crashes
through street barriers.
Eyewitnesses
estimated the car was travelling at around 40mph when it struck the crowds.
Another
post appeared to show the car driving into a group of teenage girls dancing
with white pompoms and wearing Santa hats. Another appeared to show the SUV
hitting members of a marching band.
Corey
Montiho, a Waukesha school district board member, told the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel that his daughter’s dance team was hit by the SUV. “They 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,” he said. “My wife and two daughters
were almost hit. Please pray for everybody. Please pray.”
Michele
Johnson, an eyewitness, wrote on the City of Waukesha Facebook page: “It was
horrifying! The car drove past us and saw bodies flying. People screaming. It
felt like feet from where our family was sitting.”
Police had
opened fire on the vehicle in order to try to stop it, Thompson said, quashing
earlier reports that someone in the vehicle had opened fire on the crowds.
A police
advisory for residents to “shelter in place” was issued while police tried to
trace the driver, Thompson said, and Carroll University in Waukesha went into
lockdown. The threat to people was later declared over.
Some of the
injured were taken by police to hospital and others were taken by family
members.
The
Children’s Wisconsin hospital said on Twitter it had received 15 patients as of
8pm on Sunday, with no reported fatalities at that time.
Public
schools would be closed on Monday and roads would remain closed for at least
another 24 hours, authorities said.
One witness
said the driver hit a group called the “Dancing Grannies” and at least one
person flipped over the hood of the SUV, according to WISN-TV, an ABC
affiliate.
“Members of
the group and volunteers were impacted and we are waiting for word on their
conditions,” the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies said on their Facebook page.
“Please
keep the Grannies, all those injured, and all those who witnessed this horrible
event in your thoughts and prayers.”
Photos and
videos of Waukesha circulating on Twitter showed police cars and ambulances
crowding a street decked out with Christmas lights in the aftermath of the
incident.
Writing on
Facebook, another eyewitness, Lindsay Eckert added: “This happened right behind
my dance team, the SUV drove past us going about 50-60mph. I saw people get hit
and it was terrible. Everyone is devastated.”
Angelito
Tenorio, a local alderman who is running for Wisconsin state treasurer, said he
had been at the parade with his family when he saw the red SUV approach the
crowd.
“We saw an
SUV crossover, just put the pedal to the metal and just zooming full speed
along the parade route, he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We heard a
loud bang, and just deafening cries and screams from people who are struck by
the vehicle.
“And then
we saw people running away or stopping crying, and there, there are people on
the ground who looked like they’d been hit by the vehicle.”
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