WAUKESHA, Wis. – A red truck plowed at high speed into a marching band from the rear in a twilight Christmas parade, killing five people and leaving 40 injured. Children were among the victims. The vehicle, a SUV, crashed through a series of barricades and barreled into the marchers as well as parade watchers about 4:40 p.m. in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha. Video shows the vehicle hitting two members of the Waukesha South High School marching band and rolling over them and others. Then, the accelerator pedal still to the floor, the vehicle ran over others in the band and in the crowd for 3-1/2 blocks. This was 20 to 30 minutes into the parade. It was thought a police officer shot at the vehicle and stopped it, at which point three men inside fled. One was arrested. The others escaped.
Police video a nanosecond ahead of initial impact. Image: Waukesha police
Twelve-block parade route. With details superimposed on a Chamber of Commerce map. Image: CNN graphic artist Henrik Petterson