5 dead, 40 injured after SUV speeds into Christmas parade
Waukesha (US)(AP): A joyous scene of marching bands and children dancing in Santa hats and waving pompoms turned deadly in an instant, as an SUV sped through barricades and into a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee, killing at least five people and injuring more than 40 others.
One video showed a woman screaming, Oh my God! repeatedly as a group of young dancers was struck Sunday. A father talked of going from one crumpled body to the other in search of his daughter. Members of a Dancing Grannies club were among those hit.
The city of Waukesha posted on its social media accounts late Sunday that it could confirm at least five died and more than 40 were injured, while noting that it was still collecting information. The city's statement also noted that many people took themselves to hospitals. The city did not release any additional information about those who died.
A person of interest was in custody, Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said, but he gave no details about the person or any possible motive. The investigation was ongoing, with assistance from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
What took place in Waukesha today is sickening, and I have every confidence that those responsible will be brought to justice, Attorney General Josh Kaul, the state's top law enforcement officer, tweeted.
The horror was recorded by the city's livestream and onlookers' cellphones.
One video shows the moment the SUV broke through the barricades and the sound of what appears to be several gunshots. Thompson said a Waukesha police officer fired his gun to try to stop the vehicle. No bystanders were injured by the gunfire, and Thompson said he did not know if the driver was struck by the officer's bullets.
Another video shows a young child dancing in the street as the SUV speeds by, just a few feet from her, before it hurtles into parade participants a few hundred feet ahead. One video, of dancers with pompoms, ends with a group of people tending to a girl on the ground.
There were pompoms and shoes and spilled hot chocolate everywhere. I had to go from one crumpled body to the other to find my daughter, Corey Montiho, a Waukesha school district board member, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. My wife and two daughters were almost hit. Please pray for everybody. Please pray.
The Milwaukee Dancing Grannies posted on its Facebook page that members of the group and volunteers were impacted and we are waiting for word on their conditions . The group's profile describes them as a group of grannies that meet once a week to practice routines for summer and winter parades .
A Catholic priest, multiple parishioners and Waukesha Catholic schoolchildren were among those injured, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee spokeswoman Sandra Peterson said.
Chris Germain, co-owner of the Aspire Dance Centre studio, had about 70 people in the parade ranging from as young as 2 being pulled in wagons to age 18. Germain, whose 3-year-old daughter was in the parade, said he was driving at the head of their entry when he saw a maroon SUV that just blazed right past us .
A police officer ran past in chase. Germain said he jumped out of his own SUV and gathered the girls who were with him to safety.
Then he walked forward to see the damage.
There were small children laying all over the road, there were police officers and EMTs doing CPR on multiple members of the parade," he said.
Angelito Tenorio, a West Allis alderman who is running for Wisconsin state treasurer, said he was watching the parade with his family when they saw the SUV come speeding into the area.
Then we heard a loud bang, Tenorio said. And after that, we just heard deafening cries and screams from the crowd, from the people at the parade. And people started rushing, running away with tears in their eyes, crying.
The Waukesha school district cancelled classes Monday and said in a notice on its website that extra counsellors would be on hand for students and staff. The parade's list of entries included cheer, dance and band entries associated with district schools.
Governor Tony Evers said he and his wife, Kathy, were praying for Waukesha tonight and all the kids, families, and community members affected by this senseless act .
The parade, held each year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, is sponsored by the city's Chamber of Commerce. This year's, the 59th, had the theme of comfort and joy .
Waukesha is a western suburb of Milwaukee, and about 55 miles (90 km) north of Kenosha, where Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted Friday of charges stemming from the shooting of three men during unrest in that city in August 2020.
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BJP won't cross 50-mark in Bengal polls, says TMC in response to Shah's 'two-thirds majority' claim
Kolkata (PTI): The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of peddling falsehoods and making baseless claims about securing a two-thirds majority in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.
Senior TMC leader and state education minister Bratya Basu told reporters that Shah's remarks were based on hollow assertions and claimed that the BJP would not even cross the 50-seat mark in the polls.
"Shah will keep coming and going like a tourist. Such visits will serve no purpose," Basu said on the sidelines of a programme.
"The BJP will not even cross the 50-mark in the assembly polls and suffer a humiliating defeat," Basu claimed.
Addressing a press conference here, Shah claimed that the BJP would form the next government in the state with a "two-thirds majority in 2026".
"We will not only identify infiltrators, but we'll also drive them out. Bengal will have a new BJP government after April 15, 2026, as people have made up their minds," he said.
Shah also took a dig at the Trinamool Congress government on the issue of women's safety.
"It has been officially stated that women should not step out of their homes after 7 pm. What era are we living in? Are we living in the Mughal period?," he said.
"Mamata ji, this is a free India. Ensuring that women can step out safely whenever they choose is a constitutional right. Your government has failed to provide this basic security," he added.
Criticising Shah over his comments on women's safety in the state, senior TMC leader and minister Sashi Panja urged the Union home minister to visit Bengal during the festive season, like Durga Puja and Christmas, when thousands of women move about freely and participate in festivities.
"In case a stray incident happens, our administration takes prompt action to bring the culprits to book. Instead, the rapists of Bilkis Bano are garlanded by your party activists. Your party shields Kuldeep Sengar and Brij Bhusan, who were accused of committing atrocities. Amitji should not lecture on women's security," she said.
Panja accused Shah and his party at the Centre of coming in the way of the passage of the Aparajita Bill, which would have ensured exemplary punishment to rapists after conviction.
On Shah's claims about the industrial decline of Bengal, Panja said since 2011, investment of Rs 13.8 lakh-crore came to the state.
"Bengal occupies the second berth in the MSME sector as per the figures available with the Centre, and he is peddling falsehood about the industrial growth of Bengal," she said.
TMC spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumdar also dismissed Shah's assertion that the BJP does not engage in temple-based polarising politics.
"Everyone knows the BJP campaigned on temple-masjid politics in both the 2019 and 2024 elections. This brand of politics will again be rejected by the people of Bengal," Majumdar said.
