5 dead, more than 40 hurt as SUV plows through US Christmas parade
Police say person of interest in custody; not clear if incident is related to terrorism
WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN: Five people were killed and more than 40 injured when a sport utility vehicle (SUV) sped through a Christmas parade in the small US town of Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Sunday, ploughing into dozens of people including young children.
Waukesha police chief Dan Thompson told reporters one person was in custody and a vehicle had been recovered after the incident in the town of around 72,000 people, 32km west of Milwaukee.
The police said the number of dead and injured could change.
Mr Thompson said it was not clear whether the incident was terrorist in nature, but there was no further danger and the police had lifted an order urging people to shelter.
A video posted online showed a red SUV driving at speed alongside and into the parade, appearing to run over more than a dozen people before crowds ran from sidewalks to offer assistance.
Mr Thompson said an officer fired shots at the vehicle in an attempt to stop the carnage. Another video on social media appeared to show police firing on the vehicle as it crashed through street barriers. The police did not believe shots had been fired from the vehicle, he added, contrary to earlier reports.
Nurse Jodi Singsime, 42, took shelter in a store with members of her family before going out to help the injured.
"I heard and saw the people being hit, but what you could do more than seeing is hearing, and just that sound was insane," she said.
She choked up as she described coming across a small boy on the road: "I felt his neck for a pulse and he had one, but his eyes were barely open and his face - all I can remember is his sweet little innocent face was purple. He wasn't really with us."
Belen Santamaria, her husband, and their three-year old daughter were planning to join the parade with other members of their Catholic church. But Ms Santamaria, a 39-year-old Mexican factory worker, woke up on Sunday with a backache, so the family watched the procession from the sidewalk instead.
FULL SPEED
"The SUV came by at full speed," she said. "Then I started to hear people screaming."
She hid in a restaurant with their daughter while her husband, 39-year-old delivery worker Jesus Ochoa, ran to try to help injured people. He said he heard through other members of their church that roughly 10 members of the congregation, mostly Latinos and both adults and children, were injured.
One witness said the driver also hit a group of "Dancing Grannies" and at least one person flipped over the hood of the SUV, according to Milwaukee's WISN-TV, an ABC affiliate.
Another witness estimated the SUV was going about 65kmh when it hit the parade, the TV station said.
Photos and videos of Waukesha circulating on Twitter showed police cars and ambulances crowding a street decked out with Christmas lights in the aftermath of the incident, which occurred shortly after 4.30pm (2.30am yesterday, Singapore time). People bundled up against the cold huddled on sidewalks as dusk fell.
- REUTERS
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