Car plows through Waukesha Christmas parade killing 5 people and injuring 40 people as police arrest person of interest.
A car traveling at high speed plowed into a holiday parade in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing multiple people and leaving at least 20 people injured according to police.
Video posted to social media shows a speeding red SUV collide into a group of people marching in the middle of the street during the annual holiday parade in Waukesha, some 20 miles west of downtown Milwaukee on Sunday.
Several elderly women who were part of a ‘Dancing Grannies’ float and members of a schoolgirls’ dance team, were hit and are not moving. Eleven adults and 12 children were ferried to local hospitals according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said that the red SUV has been recovered, with a ‘person of interest’ in custody, the police chief said. Officers were looking into the possibility that the suspect was fleeing an earlier incident involving a knife when he reached the parade, NBC reported.
During a Sunday press conference Chief Thompson said that the SUV rammed into the crowd at 4:39pm local time – 39 minutes after the parade started.
Graphic video shows a speeding vehicle ram through participants of the Christmas parade in #Waukesha, Wisc. Few details confirmed at this point though the police said they have a person of interest they’re looking into. pic.twitter.com/zKEX1VoC2T
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) November 22, 2021
BREAKING: First video of a red Ford Escape breaking through barriers after mowing down parade goers and firing rifle into crowd in Waukesha, WI pic.twitter.com/QHDi2fsKDz
— David Kimball (@wxandnews) November 21, 2021
BREAKING: Wisconsin officials say more than 20 individuals, including children, were struck by a red SUV when it drove through the barricades at the Waukesha Christmas parade. pic.twitter.com/1bCJIt6z1m
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 22, 2021
‘It just happened so fast,’
The vehicle sped through the holiday parade even as people participating in the procession waved flags. Dozens of people were injured near the intersection of Main and Barstow streets in downtown Waukesha, according to reports.
Chief Thompson said during the incident ‘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.’
Angelito Tenorio, a West Allis alderman who is running for Wisconsin state treasurer, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he was watching the parade with his family when they saw the SUV come speeding into the area.
‘Then we heard a loud bang, and just deafening cries and screams from people who are struck by the vehicle,’ Tenorio said.
‘And then, 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.’
Tenorio said he saw about 10 people, children and adults, on the ground who appeared to have been hit by the vehicle.
‘It just happened so fast,’ he said. ‘It was pretty horrifying.’
This video was taken minutes after the terrorist attack in Waukesha..
Multiple deaths after an SUV plowed through a group of 9-15 year olds marching in a Christmas parade.
Pray for Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/qdcwSH7m0M
— Karl F Kennedy 🆓️ 💬 (@KarlFKennedy17) November 22, 2021
‘WHAT THE F***.’
Tweeted one witness: ‘Right in front of my family, this man drives through the parade hitting as many people as possible while shooting out the window.
‘He ran over several elderly women who were dancing in the parade and many others please pray for everyone in Waukesha.’
The witness added: ‘Waukesha has some of the nicest families and people in this country.
‘This parade is one of the most heartwarming events of the year, this is not the America my little cousins, parents, aunts, uncles, ANYBODY deserves.
‘WHAT THE F***.’
No known motive was immediately known. Officers were not discounting terrorism.
