The suspect Darrell B. allegedly raced with a red SUV in a crowd of people on a Christmas parade on Sunday. Five people are dead, almost 50 injured. There is still no answer to the why.
After the fatal incident at a Christmas parade in the US state of Wisconsin, it is still unclear why a driver there in an SUV crashed into a crowd. The alleged perpetrator Darrell B. had recently been involved in a “domestic dispute,” said Waukesha police chief Dan Thompson on Monday. Thompson did not give any details about the incident. The 39-year-old acted alone at the parade and there was no evidence of a terrorist background, said the police chief.
At least five people were killed in the Waukesha incident on Sunday. At least 48 people were injured. According to the authorities, numerous children also suffered injuries when the red Ford suddenly broke through barriers and raced at high speed along the main street with the parade. A children’s hospital in nearby Milwaukee announced that a total of 18 children between the ages of 3 and 16 had been admitted there.
According to US media, the suspect was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend just a few days before the incident and was released shortly afterwards on bail of $ 1,000. the New York Times reported that he had been charged multiple times over the years, had at least twice been detained, and had been paroled for years. Also the local newspaper Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on previous charges.
For the Waukesha Christmas Parade, people in the center of town lined both sides of the street on Sunday afternoon. The annual event in the suburb of the big city Milwaukee traditionally attracts dance groups, high school bands, politicians and spectators. Many families with children also attended the parade on Sunday and marveled at Christmas figures, dancers and musicians.
In some video clips that were initially not verifiable and spread on social media, chaotic and disturbing scenes could be seen: An off-road vehicle was filmed in various snapshots from various perspectives, which first raced past participants in the parade, at another point various people in the The road rams and runs over and finally breaks through road barriers and chases away. The video recordings show people screaming and running. In one scene the car barely races past a child dancing in the street.