US driver in deadly Christmas parade incident previously accused of running down woman with vehicle
- Darrell Brooks will be charged with homicide after ploughing into a crowd in Waukesha, Wisconsin, with his SUV, killing five
- Police say he was fleeing the scene of a domestic disturbance when he drove through barricades, but was not being pursued by officers
Authorities will charge a 39-year-old man with multiple counts of homicide for driving into a crowded Christmas parade in Wisconsin, killing five, as he fled the scene of an earlier domestic disturbance, police said on Monday.
Police in Waukesha, a small city roughly 20 miles (32km) west of Milwaukee, say they do not know what caused Darrell E. Brooks, a resident of Milwaukee, to drive into the crowd, injuring 48, including two children in critical condition.
“He drove right through the barricades and the officers,” Waukesha Police Chief Daniel Thompson told a briefing, adding the incident was not related to terrorism. Police were not pursuing Brooks when he ploughed into the parade, he said.
Brooks has been charged with crimes 16 times since 1999 and had two outstanding cases against him at the time of the parade disaster – including one in which he was accused of deliberately running down a woman with his vehicle.
“Minutes after the incident occurred, I responded to the scene,” Thompson said. “And what I saw out of chaos and tragedy was heroes – first responders in the community coming together and working together on triaging victims.”
