(New York) Police revealed Monday afternoon that the Waukesha tragedy suspect was embroiled in a “domestic argument” before boarding a red Ford Escape and crashing into a parade crowd. Christmas in this city in the suburbs of Milwaukee, killing five and at least 48 injured, including several children.
Darrell Brooks, a 39-year-old repeat offender living in Milwaukee, was arrested shortly after the tragedy on Sunday and charged Monday with five intentional homicides. He was not being chased by the police as he drove into downtown Waukesha, where the parade was taking place.
“Domestic dispute”
“We have information that the suspect was involved in a domestic dispute a few minutes earlier and left the scene just prior to our arrival,” Waukesha Police Chief Don Thompson said.
MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF PHOTO, VIA REUTERS
Darrell Brooks, a 39-year-old repeat offender living in Milwaukee, was arrested shortly after the tragedy on Sunday and charged Monday with five intentional homicides. Above, his forensic identification photo, released after his indictment.
“When the suspect walked through and entered the crowd, an officer discharged his gun and fired shots at the suspect to end the threat, but due to the amount of people he had to s’ stop, stop shooting, ”he added. The domestic dispute may have involved a knife, said the police chief, who ruled out the hypothesis of a terrorist act.
He identified the five victims, who were between 52 and 81 years old.
The victims are four women aged 52 to 79 as well as an 81-year-old man. They include members of a dance troupe, the Dancing Grannies (“Dancing grandmothers”) participating in the Christmas parade, as well as a bank employee.
“The types of injuries range from scratches on the face to broken bones and serious head injuries,” said Dr. Amy Drendel, medical director of the emergency department at Children’s Wisconsin Hospital at a press conference.
“Hero”
The police chief described the first aid as “heroes” having responded to “chaos and tragedy” while the wind had also caused power cuts which further complicated the intervention of the emergency services.
“It looked like mannequins thrown in the air” (in front of the SUV), said Nicole Schneiter, who was attending the Christmas parade with her children and grandchildren. “It took a while for my head to assimilate what I had just seen. I was like, ‘Did I really just see this?’ And right after that, we saw people lying on the road. ”
At least ten patients – most of them children – were described as in critical condition Monday, in two hospitals. Seven others were considered to be in serious condition.
The question that will haunt Waukesha is why Darrell Brooks was on the loose. On November 11, he was released on $ 1,000 bail after being charged six days earlier with running over the mother of his child in the parking lot of a Milwaukee gas station with his SUV.
He was also the subject of another indictment in Milwaukee dating back to July 2020 for endangering others and illegal possession of a firearm. A bond of $ 500 had allowed him to regain his freedom following this case. It was originally set at $ 10,000.
Already accused of violence
In a statement released Monday, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office called the state’s recommended $ 1,000 bail for Darrell Brooks’ release “excessively low”, given the seriousness of the charges against him. him.
“This office is currently conducting an internal review of the decision supporting the recent bail recommendation in this case to determine the appropriate next steps,” Milwaukee County Attorney John Chisholm said.
Darrell Brooks’ criminal record spans several years. Since 1999, he has been convicted of “aggravated assault, possession of marijuana and obstructing the work of a police officer, among other felonies and misdemeanors.” On his Twitter account, the man introduces himself as a “rapper / songwriter /stoner/ philosopher ”.
He was streaming rap music under the name MathBoi Fly on a YouTube channel that was deleted after the Sunday night drama. It was around 4:39 p.m. Sunday when a 2010 Ford Escape turned into a nightmare the return of a cherished tradition in Waukesha, that of the Christmas parade, which was put on hold last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Until then, a cheerful crowd admired the marching bands, dancers and other parade participants along the main street of Waukesha, a town of just over 71,000 inhabitants. Speeding along, the SUV passed several participants and spectators before rushing into a group of several dozen people who were near the end of the course.
Flags at half mast
Angelito Tenorio, candidate for the post of State Treasurer and present at the scene, told the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal seeing an SUV driving at full speed on the route taken by the parade.
“Then I heard a big shock and deafening screams from people hit by the vehicle,” he said.
“One of our Catholic priests is among the injured, as are many parishioners and children at the Catholic school in Waukesha,” said Milwaukee Catholic Church spokesperson Sandra Peterson.
Schools in the city will be closed all week, and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said on Twitter that he has “ordered the flags of the United States and Wisconsin to be half-masted as we continue to pray for Waukesha and children, loved ones, and neighbors whose lives were forever changed by an unimaginable tragedy last night ”.
Apparently unrelated to this drama, Wisconsin had already been agitated by the acquittal last week of Kyle Rittenhouse, a young American who shot dead two men in 2020 during anti-racist protests in Kenosha, about 80 km south of Waukesha.
With Associated Press and Agence France-Presse