20 hurt as SUV plows into Christmas parade in Milwaukee suburb

WAUKESHA, Wis. — An SUV plowed into a Christmas parade successful the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha connected Sunday, injuring much than 20 people, the city’s constabulary main said.

Those injured appeared to see children, members of a marching set and a creation troupe, according to witnesses and videos of the incidental posted online.

Chief Dan Thompson said the probe was ongoing, but that a “suspect vehicle” was recovered. Some of the injured were taken by constabulary to hospitals, and others were taken by household members, Thompson said.

“We person a idiosyncratic of involvement that we are looking into astatine this time,” Thompson said. It wasn’t wide if the idiosyncratic was successful custody; Thompson deferred questions until a aboriginal briefing.

Mayor Shawn Reilly told WITI successful Milwaukee that helium did not judge determination was immoderate existent information to the public.

Police successful Waukesha, located astir 20 miles westbound of Milwaukee, were urging radical to debar the downtown area.

A unrecorded video provender of the parade from the metropolis of Waukesha, arsenic good arsenic videos taken by parade attendees, showed a reddish SUV breaking done barriers and speeding into the roadway wherever the parade was taking place.

A video taken on the parade way showed a radical of what appeared to beryllium teenage girls dancing with achromatic pompoms and wearing Santa hats. The SUV plows into the radical arsenic the idiosyncratic filming shouts, “Oh my God!” implicit and over. The video shows radical tending to astatine slightest 1 of the girls connected the ground.

Another video shows the SUV striking what appears to beryllium members of a marching set and respective others on the parade way earlier driving on. The dependable of the marching set heard earlier the SUV approaches is replaced by screams.

Corey Montiho, a Waukesha schoolhouse territory committee member, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his daughter’s creation squad was deed by the SUV.

“They were pom-poms and shoes and spilled blistery cocoa everywhere. I had to spell from 1 crumpled assemblage to the different to find my daughter,” helium said. “My woman and 2 daughters were astir hit. Please commune for everybody. Please pray.”

Angelito Tenorio, a West Allis alderman who is moving for Wisconsin authorities treasurer, told The Associated Press that helium was watching the parade with his household erstwhile they saw the SUV travel speeding into the area.

“Then we heard a large bang,” Tenorio said. “And aft that, we conscionable heard deafening cries and screams from the crowd, from the radical astatine the parade. And radical started rushing, moving distant with tears successful their eyes crying.”

Tenorio said helium saw astir 10 people, children and adults, connected the crushed who appeared to person been deed by the vehicle.

“It conscionable happened truthful fast,” helium said. “It was beauteous horrifying.”

Gov. Tony Evers said helium and his wife, Kathy, were “praying for Waukesha contiguous and each the kids, families, and assemblage members affected by this senseless act.”

Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, who was astatine the parade but near conscionable earlier the incident, called it “an unspeakable tragedy, affecting america each arsenic we enactment to flooded an highly challenging 2 years and resume our cherished vacation traditions.”

The parade is sponsored by the city’s Chamber of Commerce. This year’s variation was the 59th of the lawsuit that’s held each twelvemonth the Sunday earlier Thanksgiving.

Waukesha is simply a occidental suburb of Milwaukee, and astir 55 miles northbound of Kenosha, wherever Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted Friday of charges stemming from the shooting of 3 men during unrest successful that metropolis successful August 2020.