The deadly SUV incident immediately marred the cheerful holiday spirit that had filled the streets of the Wisconsin city on Sunday afternoon.
The tragedy occurred at approximately 4:39 p.m. local time, when a red SUV struck a crowd of people who had gathered for the parade. The vehicle ploughed through the crowd, killing at least five people and injuring over 40 others, according to the city authorities.
The death toll may rise, the authorities warned, as additional information is being gathered. The Waukesha Police Department said that many people transported themselves to area hospitals.
Suspect in Custody
Police also said that they have a person of interest in custody. According to ABC News, the investigators currently have no reason to believe that the incident was somehow related to terrorism or the debate about the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict.
The preliminary assessment of video evidence and interviews reportedly is that the driver was not aiming to strike the parade, but was rather fleeing an earlier incident.
An internal police memo cited by ABC News said that, while one subject is in custody, another "one remains at large".
According to The Daily Mail, the suspect who was arrested has been identified as Darrell Brooks, an amateur rapper who was bailed out of jail two days before the deadly incident in Waukesha.
In the wake of the tragedy, the White House stated that the administration is closely monitoring the situation.
"[The President] was briefed last night on the tragic situation in Waukesha and he will receive regular updates. Our team is in close touch with local officials to offer any support and assistance needed. Our hearts are with the families and the entire community," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted on Monday.
The FBI also responded to the incident, saying that a response is being coordinated by both state and local officials.
Community Response
The city of about seventy thousand people remains distressed after the tragedy, and city authorities have announced that public schools will be closed on Monday, Roads will also be closed "at least overnight" as everyone is being urged to stay away from the scene. Those who live in the area where roads are closed have been asked to park near the local farmer market and get a police officer to escort them home to stay there until the roads are opened again.
“Today our community faced horror and tragedy in what should have been a community celebration,” said Mayor Shawn Reilly, cited by The New York Times. “I’m deeply saddened to know that so many in our community went to a parade but ended up dealing with injury and heartache.”
Disturbing footage showing the horrific incident emerged on social media, along with the descriptions of the scene from those who happened to witness the SUV mowing down the crowd.
'Bodies Flying Everywhere'
Those who had to witness the gruesome scene have shared their feelings via media outlets, describing the traumatic episode of the SUV striking the celebrators.
"He’s just blowing through people, kind of just dinging a lot of people, bodies flying everywhere,” one of the witnesses, Brayden Kowalski, told Fox News. "These people didn’t get run over, they got f****ng thrown through the air. Like a lot of people got tossed up into the air.”
Kowalski went on to describe the scene as "horrifying", as there were "quite a few people with broken limbs, like a lot of broken legs, a lot of people shouting with broken legs".
Other witnesses elaborated on the vehicle and the way it ploughed through the crowd.
"It hit at least two people right away and rolled over them. And then continued down the road to People's Park which is at the end of the block -- and then kept going, it didn't stop," said Angela O'Boyle, who lives in an apartment in the vicinity of the parade site, per CNN.
She said people were screaming and yelling out their children's names as the scene unfolded.
Another witness, Kaylee Staral, told CNN that when the screaming started, some people "almost thought maybe it was Santa", before they knew what was going on when the red SUV appeared and struck the crowd.
"It looked like he was trying to hit people," another witness reportedly said. "He was swerving back and forth."