A car hits the crowd of a Christmas parade: several dead
A driver rushed into the crowd on Sunday in a small town in Wisconsin where a Christmas parade was being organized. An investigation is underway.
The car raced into the crowd as spectators gathered in Waukesha watched the traditional Christmas parade held annually in the Wisconsin state city.
AFP
An SUV-type vehicle crashed into a crowd gathered for a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States on Sunday, killing more than 20 people and injuring more than 20, police said.
There were “deaths,” police chief Dan Thompson told a press conference, without specifying the number. Local officials said 11 adults and 12 children had been taken to hospital.
Authorities were still working to gather information about the incident which occurred at around 4:30 p.m. (10:30 p.m. GMT) Sunday in Waukesha, Wisconsin (north), where a Christmas parade is held every year.
“The Waukesha Christmas Parade was taking place when a red SUV knocked down the barriers on the west side and headed for Main Street (the main street),” he explained. “The car hit more than 20 people, some of them were children and there were injuries from this incident,” he said.
“Waukesha police have located a suspicious vehicle. An investigation is underway, ”he said, adding that the authorities had identified a person as part of this investigation. Police fired at the vehicle in an attempt to stop it, authorities also said.
“Big shock”
Schools will not open Monday and some roads will remain closed during the investigation, said Dan Thompson.
Angelito Tenorio, candidate for the post of State Treasurer and present at the scene, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he saw an SUV-type vehicle speeding down the road used by the parade. “Then I heard a big shock and deafening screams from people hit by the vehicle,” he said.
–Police at the scene of the crime.
Getty Images via AFP
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–Angelito Tenorio, candidate for the post of State Treasurer and present at the scene, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he saw an SUV-type vehicle speeding down the road used by the parade. “Then I heard a big shock and deafening screams from people hit by the vehicle,” he said.
Getty Images via AFP
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According to witnesses and footage, the SUV burst into the parade behind a group of marching school musicians. “All I heard was screaming and then people yelling their children’s names,” a witness, Angela O’Boyle, whose apartment overlooks the main street where it is located, told CNN. this parade was taking place.
Several parliamentarians from Wisconsin have expressed their condolences, including Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin who judged that this “horrible violence breaks your heart”. The governor of Wisconsin said for his part that he and his wife “prayed for Waukesha tonight and for the children, families and members of this community affected by this meaningless act.”
The incident came at the end of a turbulent week in Wisconsin where a young American, Kyle Rittenhouse, was acquitted on trial this week after shooting two men last year during riots and protests against violence. police officers in Kenosha, located approximately 80 km from Waukesha.
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