'Mama, are you OK?' In Waukesha, minutes of terror recounted

Hours earlier it started, they were already determination — radical sitting connected tract chairs oregon wrapped successful blankets, awaiting an lawsuit the city's politician described arsenic consecutive retired of Norman Rockwell. The Waukesha Christmas Parade, a contented successful its Milwaukee suburb for six decades, was to beryllium peculiarly peculiar this clip astir aft its pandemic-related cancellation past year.

Stepping disconnected a fewer blocks to the east, parade participants were successful the vacation spirit, too. Members of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, a assemblage favourite connected the Wisconsin parade circuit, donned achromatic fur hats and waved achromatic pompoms arsenic they danced down Main Street to “Jingle Bell Rock.” Realtors and bankers handed retired candy, and the percussion conception of a precocious schoolhouse set wore Santa hats arsenic they banged drums and clanged cymbals.

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As they reveled, a reddish SUV was besides heading down Main Street down them, moving astatine a gait acold faster than the parade.

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The SUV's driver, constabulary say, had just near the country of a home disturbance that progressive a knife. A mates blocks to the eastbound of wherever the parade started, constabulary say, helium drove past a constabulary squad car and barricade and onto the parade route.

For a abbreviated time, the operator sped alongside the marchers successful a mostly bare parking lane, narrowly missing radical some successful the parade and on the street, according to aggregate videos and witnesser accounts. Some connected the way wondered aloud what was happening. And arsenic constabulary — archetypal an serviceman connected foot, past cars with lights and sirens — followed successful pursuit, their alarm grew.

The SUV approached the halfway of downtown, wherever sidewalks are wider, histrion planters jut into parts of the roadworthy and the assemblage was much dense. There the vehicle’s way became much erratic — and deadly.

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The parade was noisy, and astir of the radical successful it had their backs to the vehicle. So they had nary informing earlier the operator started hitting people, sending bodies flying oregon crumpling portion others fled oregon rushed to help.

Later, good aft the chaos had calmed, authorities said six radical were killed and implicit 60 were injured. How they fared depended connected wherever each idiosyncratic oregon radical was positioned successful the parade arsenic the SUV barreled forward.

Four of the dormant were with the Dancing Grannies — 3 dancers and a unpaid helper. A pistillate who worked for Citizens Bank and was walking with co-workers successful the radical conscionable down the grandmothers besides died Sunday, portion an 8-year-old lad died Tuesday from his injuries.

Also among the injured: members of a schoolhouse marching band, a priest, younker shot players and young girls successful a creation troupe.

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Before the SUV deed them, it raced past Margie Dougherty and her friends from the Wisconsin Diamond Dancers a fewer positions back. One infinitesimal they were dancing to the Christmas opus “Feliz Navidad.”

And then, the joyous, mingled bedlam of the parade — the drums of antithetic bands, the cheers of the crowd, the recorded euphony for assorted creation groups — seemed to conscionable stop. The Diamond Dancers, astir of them retired women, stood successful the street, confused.

“All of a sudden," Dougherty said, “there wasn’t immoderate music."

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In spot No. 49 of the parade, conscionable successful beforehand of the Diamond Dancers and a fewer spots down the Dancing Grannies, was the RE/MAX Service First parade contingent. Among them: Ken Walter, his woman and their youngest son.

It was astatine slightest the 20th clip that Walter, 58, a Waukesha native, had participated successful the Christmas event. Walter was wrong a blistery aerial balloon handbasket connected the backmost of a RE/MAX van. Occasionally occurrence would sprout up from the handbasket and into the entity arsenic if to substance a monolithic — but nonexistent — balloon, drafting onlookers' cheers. The statement allowed Walter to look backward, down him, arsenic his radical reached the bosom of downtown.

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That agelong of the parade way is typically crowded with people, Walter says. Participants are person to the sidewalks, which are wider than the different agelong of Main Street, truthful radical and vehicles are forced to determination much slowly.

“I ever archer my crew, whoever’s driving, to beryllium cautious due to the fact that everybody’s truly close,” Walter said. “There’s not overmuch country betwixt our conveyance and the crowd.”

From his vantage point, Walter watched a reddish SUV careen into view. It deed a subordinate of the existent property radical walking down the van wherever his household was riding. “You conscionable knew they were going to deed radical not expecting it,” Walter said.

The SUV kept going, narrowly missing the van and a play cart successful beforehand of it. Then, Walter said, it drove consecutive into members of the Waukesha South High School Marching Band.

On video changeable from above, the conveyance is seen plowing into musicians successful their Santa hats. It doesn’t look to slow, adjacent arsenic it leaves bodies successful its wake.

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Then the SUV drove into a radical of younker shot players and adults arsenic they walked with their club, the Waukesha Blazers. Among those deed were 8-year-old Jackson Sparks and his member Tucker, 12, who were 1 of 3 sets of siblings hospitalized aft being struck. Jackson died 2 days later.

“It’s a parade, truthful radical were laughing and cheering," Walter said. When they heard screaming, helium said, they didn't instantly cognize thing was wrong.

Behind the speeding vehicle, though, radical yelled. They ran. They searched for household and friends. Amid it all, they were unsure: Were they inactive successful danger? Was determination much to come?

“It was similar everything went into dilatory motion, and I couldn’t perceive anything,” Walter said.

He hurried his 11-year-old lad and a fewer different children from the existent property radical wrong a adjacent business, frightened by speech successful the assemblage that idiosyncratic successful the car had besides fired a gun. Then helium ran backmost extracurricular to find his wife, Kay, who was trying to dainty radical wounded erstwhile the car deed them. A erstwhile intensive attraction portion caregiver and a caregiver practitioner, she wanted to bash thing to help.

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“There were these piles of blankets with cops lasting implicit them that you conscionable knew were bodies," Walter said. “(Y)ou spot this conveyance going down the roadworthy similar they’re going implicit a bumpy road. And you cognize they’re driving implicit people. We conscionable ticker arsenic it continued up to the different floats successful beforehand of us, and we didn’t cognize however acold it went.”

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On the sidewalk a artifact up of Walter and his group, Nicole Schneiter watched the parade with her children and grandchildren. They had arrived 2 hours aboriginal to acceptable up tract chairs astatine their favourite spot successful beforehand of Burlap & Lace Marketplace, halfway on the parade route.

As the Xtreme Dance team, a troupe of girls dressed successful achromatic and shaking achromatic pompoms, passed by, Schneiter said to her 6-year-old granddaughter: You could bash that someday.

Seconds later, she said, “I conscionable seen a car flying done and conscionable bodies. It looked similar dummies being thrown successful the air.”

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“It took a 2nd to register, like, ‘Is that what we truly conscionable saw?’ And past you looked successful the roadworthy and determination were conscionable radical laying successful the road.”

People began shouting: “Get successful the store! Get successful the store!” Schneiter grabbed her 9-year-old lad and helped her older children get 2 grandchildren, who’d been sitting successful a wagon, into the store. Someone ushered them into a backmost room. One of her daughters cradled her 6-month-old.

“There was a woman successful determination freaking retired due to the fact that she was missing a kid. There was different antheral successful determination covered successful humor that wasn’t his," Schneiter said. "I felt similar we were successful a movie.”

Schneiter began receiving frantic messages from her 14-year-old daughter, with a friend’s household connected different portion of the route. “Mama, are you OK?” her girl texted. But reception was poor, and Schneiter was incapable to reply. Later, her girl told her she saw a small lad adjacent to her get tally over.

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As the SUV continued its lethal path, it reached the radical from Citizens Bank, astir of whom walked alongside a parade interval dressed successful reddish ponchos and handing retired candy to spectators. Authorities said Jane Kulich, 52, was among those killed. According to section quality reports, Kulich worked for a section subdivision of the bank, which said successful a connection that an worker — 1 it didn't sanction — was “walking with our parade float” erstwhile she was struck and died.

The adjacent victims were with the radical of grandmas conscionable ahead. Dead were Virginia Sorenson, 79; LeAnna Owen, 71; Tamara Durand, 52; and Wilhelm Hospel, 81. The 3 women were members of the Grannies, and Hospel reportedly helped the troupe with their shows.

The Milwaukee Dancing Grannies had posted connected their Facebook leafage earlier that day, excited to beryllium kicking disconnected vacation parades.

“Waukesha present we come!!!” the station read. On Monday, successful the aftermath, they posted again, saying the radical had been “doing what they loved" by putting smiles connected people's faces and “filling them with joyousness and happiness.”

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When those holed up successful the store emerged, they recovered a thoroughfare filled with the chaotic aftermath — strollers, chairs, candy, random shoes. And bodies.

Yet it remains unclear precisely however the calamity really came to an end.

Police person released fewer details. They bash accidental that an serviceman tried to halt the driver, Darrell Brooks Jr., 39, of Milwaukee, by banging connected the conveyance arsenic Brooks was driving onto the parade route, and different serviceman aboriginal fired 3 shots and deed the SUV successful an effort to halt the destruction. They besides accidental Brooks was taken into custody soon aft the SUV near the parade way adjacent Veterans Park, a grassy country astatine the extremity of Main Street wherever the roadworthy takes a crisp left.

Brooks, who was uninjured, has a past with the law, constabulary say, including a caller lawsuit successful which helium was accused of deliberately moving down a pistillate with his vehicle. Police Chief Dan Thompson said helium acted alone, and authorities accidental determination is nary grounds helium knew anyone successful the parade oregon that his actions were immoderate benignant of violent attack.

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Thompson besides said constabulary didn't person clip to respond to the Sunday day home disturbance telephone earlier Brooks near that determination and drove onto the parade route, ignoring their commands to stop. On Tuesday, helium was charged with 5 counts of first-degree intentional homicide and ordered held connected $5 cardinal bond; a sixth homicide complaint is expected to beryllium filed for the decease of Sparks, a authoritative said.

Dougherty, the 62-year-old subordinate of the Wisconsin Diamond Dancers, said that earlier the parade, she and the different dancers had disquieted aloud astir a fewer imaginable perils — stepping successful a pothole maybe, oregon slipping connected the street’s painted lines.

“It never, adjacent for 1 second, crossed my mind," she said, “that being successful a parade could beryllium tragically dangerous."

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Associated Press reporters Tammy Webber successful Fenton, Michigan, Scott Bauer successful Madison, Wisconsin, and Mike Householder successful Waukesha contributed to this story.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.