The budget is likely to worsen in the next few hours. Dozens of people were injured by an SUV that hit the traditional parade that opens the Christmas holidays at high speed in Waukesha, a city of over 60,000 inhabitants about 30 km west of Milwaukee, in Wisconsin, United States. There are victims. Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said police are working with the coroner’s office to confirm the identity of the victims.
At least five people died and 40 were injured: the city administration confirmed this on its social profiles, however warning that the collection of information on what happened is still ongoing.
Darrell Edward Brooks Jr was arrested: he had just got out of prison
Many children were injured. Firefighters said 23 people, including many children, were taken to hospital with unspecified injuries. Police said they found the vehicle and arrested “a person of interest”. The alleged perpetrator of the massacre was soon identified. According to reports from the local press, he was the 39-year-old Darrell Edward Brooks Jr, an African American citizen already responsible for a long list of crimes. Brooks was released from prison two days ago after paying a $ 1,000 bail. In the past, he was accused of, inter alia, resisting arrest, beatings, attempted strangulation and suffocation, destruction of property, illegal possession of firearms, domestic violence, sexual harassment.
Waukesha (Usa): the SUV falls on the crowd, dead and injured
It happened in the mid-afternoon, Sunday, when a dark red SUV swooped into the parade at high speed, accelerating just as it was behind a school band, before escaping by overwhelming the barriers. The traditional parade is a family-friendly event that draws spectators from other counties. Minimum security measures: it was little more than a village party.
An officer fired a few shots at the vehicle but did not hit it. The tragic images of the accident were shot live on social media and bounced on the US networks. Many people have been mowed down: scenes of panic, between screams, crying and fleeing to homes and shops to get safe. Numerous families with children.
The area was evacuated and isolated. Nightmare attack, but local police chief Dan Thompson said he couldn’t get out of balance. Other hypotheses are not excluded, such as that the driver was fleeing after committing another crime.
“As we were returning from the parade we saw an SUV whizzing along the path of the parade. Then we heard a loud roar and deafening screams and cries from the people who had been hit by the vehicle,” city councilor Angelito told the media. Tenorio, one of the witnesses of the episode. “Then we saw people running away, there were a lot of people injured on the ground,” he added. “Bodies were flying everywhere,” echoed another witness. Meanwhile, Mayor Shawn Reilly expressed his solidarity with the injured and their families.
The White House “is closely monitoring the situation in Waukesha” and expressed solidarity “to all those affected by this terrible accident”, offering support and assistance to state and local leaders.
The moments preceding the attack
On social networks there are multiple videos that immortalize the exact moment in which the SUV overwhelms the participants in the Christmas parade. Very raw videos, which we don’t publish. Below, the moment that precedes the drama.
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