Waukesha: Multiple people dead and more than 20 injured after SUV plows into Christmas parade

Multiple people are dead and more than 20 have been injured after a vehicle plowed into a Christmas parade in Wisconsin on Sunday in what appeared to be a deliberate attack.

Officials in the city of Waukesha said that 11 adults and 12 children were taken to hospital, with “some fatalities”, but declined to say how many were dead because families are still being notified.

A Wisconsin children’s hospital later said it had received 15 patients.

Video from the city’s parade live stream, as well as phone clips from attendees, showed a red SUV breaking through barriers and speeding into the roadway where the parade was taking place.

At 4.39pm, the SUV plowed at high speed into band members and cheerleaders marching four abreast in close formation, hitting multiple people and scattering the crowd before driving on.

• Latest updates on the Wisconsin incident

Police chief Dan Thompson said his department had taken one person of interest into custody and seized the vehicle. He said he didn’t yet know if there was any connection to terrorism.

He said he did not believe the SUV driver had fired a weapon following early reports of gunshots. Instead, he said, a police officer had fired at the vehicle in an attempt to stop it.

“Today our community faced horror and tragedy in what should have been a community celebration,” said Waukesha mayor Shawn Reilly. “My heart goes out to all those affected by this senseless act.”

Wisconsin governor Tony Evers said he and his wife were praying for Waukesha, while the White House said it was monitoring the situation. The state’s attorney general Josh Kaul called the incident “sickening”, promising that whoever was responsible would be “brought to justice”.

Witnesses described how what was meant to be a joyous occasion, the first in-person holiday parade in Waukesha since before the pandemic, turned to horror as the unknown driver rammed into the marchers.

“He was going from side to side, targeting people,” bystander Tyler Kotlarek, 28, told the New York Times. “The car bombed through. He was flying through there going intentionally from left to right.”

Tom Hickey, 25, who marched at the rear of the parade, said he saw the red Ford Escape slowly making its way through the crowd and honking for people to get out of the way.

Mr Hickey said he thought the driver was lost, but then saw him turn right onto the parade route, gun the engine and accelerate into the crowd.

Angelito Tenorio, an alderman in nearby West Allis, told the Associated Press that the driver “just put the pedal to the metal”.

“Then we heard a loud bang,” he went on. “And after that, we just heard deafening cries and screams from the crowd, from the people at the parade. And people started rushing, running away with tears in their eyes crying.”

Mr 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.”

Alderman Don Paul Browne said he had been marching at the front of the parade. “I am in shock. This parade draws people from all over, even Jefferson County. I am numb. It is pretty upsetting,” he told USA Today.

A parade group called the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies said on Facebook that some of its members had been “impacted” and they were awaiting further updates. It asked readers to keep the Grannies and anyone else injured in their prayers.

Police sent an emergency alert to people’s smartphones after the incident, hoping to keep the scene clear while they investigated.

More than a dozen units from both fire department and police department were on the scene, with the FBI and the ATF (the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) assisting Waukesha police.

“It’s a very tragic incident, very chaotic,” said Chief Thompson. “There are no other threats involved, the scene is now safe. My prayers and thoughts go out to the family members. We have a person of interest that we are looking into at this time.”

Videos posted to the City of Waukesha Twitter account on Sunday afternoon showed marching bands, and women dancing in festive outfits while crowds stood along the sidewalk and sat on curbs.

A family reunification location was set up at the Metro Transit Center by Bank Street, according to the police department’s Facebook page.