What we know about the Waukesha Christmas Parade attack
Just before dusk on Sunday, Nov. 21, a 39-year-old Milwaukee man driving a red Ford Escape ripped through barricades that were blocking traffic in downtown Waukesha for the city's annual Christmas parade, triggering a sequence of events that would leave six dead and at least 62 injured.
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Here's what we know:
The incident: A driver in a red SUV plowed through the parade
Darrell Brooks Jr. is accused of driving the SUV into the parade route about 4:40 p.m., according to Waukesha police. Brooks was driving at a much higher rate of speed than the parade vehicles and he kept driving after hitting scores of participants, according to witness video footage.
A Waukesha police officer fired at Brooks' vehicle after Brooks broke through the barricades, police said, but the officer stopped to avoid injuring any parade spectators. Brooks kept driving through the parade route.
More than 60 people were hurt in the attack, including members of a girls dance team, the Waukesha South High School Marching Band, a Catholic priest, and a group of dancing grandmothers known as the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies.
An 8-year-old boy named Jackson Sparks, who was marching in the parade with the Waukesha Blazers baseball team, died two days after being struck. His older brother, Tucker, was also struck by Brooks' SUV abd survived.
Three members of the Dancing Grannies — Virginia "Ginny" Sorenson, 79; Leanna "Lee" Owen, 71; Tamara Durand, 52 — as well as Wilhelm "Bill" Hospel, 81, the husband of one of the dancers were among the deaths resulting from Sunday's attack. Also killed was Jane Kulich, 52, a team member from Citizens Bank who was walking with a parade float and was struck.
Read more about the incident and aftermath at the scene
Video posted on social media showed a chaotic scene
TIMELINES: Interactive | Video
The suspect: Darrell Brooks Jr. charged with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide
Brooks has been charged with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide.
Waukesha County Circuit Court Commissioner Kevin Costello set bail for Brooks at $5 million.
Brooks was out on bail at the time of the parade attack with an open court case related to domestic violence.
Brooks has been charged three times in less than two years with recklessly endangering the safety of others, most recently on Nov. 5 as part of a domestic abuse incident for which he was also charged with resisting or obstructing an officer.
In the most recent case, a woman told police Brooks purposefully ran her "over with his vehicle" while she was walking through a gas station parking lot after he had followed her there after a fight, according to the criminal complaint.
Less than 24 hours after the parade attack, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm’s office released a statement saying a prosecutor had recommended an “inappropriately low” $1,000 bail in Brooks’ earlier felony domestic violence case.
Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson did not say what triggered Brooks to plow through the parade. Thompson said the incident is not considered to be domestic terrorism.
Just before the parade attack, Brooks was involved in a domestic disturbance about a mile north of the parade.
Read more about the suspect, his long history of contacts with law enforcement and the charges he is now facing.
MORE: Bail for Waukesha parade suspect Darrell Brooks was lower than average, analysis shows
MORE: A woman said Darrell Brooks "tried to kill her" when he ran over her in early November in Milwaukee.
The victims: More than 60 injuries and six fatalities
In addition to the six people who died as a result of the attack, more than 60 people were injured. Those who died range in age from 8 to 81. The youngest person hurt at the parade that we know of is 3 years old.
Officials at Children's Wisconsin Hospital in Wauwatosa said seven children remain at the hospital as of Monday.
None are in critical condition. Three are in serious condition, three are in fair condition and one is in good condition, according to a Children's spokeswoman.
At least one child is still on a ventilator and several Waukesha Xtreme Dance Team members remain in the ICU, according to recent updates to GoFundMe pages. Conditions of many of the adults who were injured are unknown.
Three sets of siblings were among the patients admitted to Children's Hospital, including the Sparks brothers, hospital officials said.
Read more about some of those who died and those who were seriously injured
VICTIM PROFILES: Jackson Sparks | Tamara L. Carlson Durand | Virginia 'Ginny' E. Sorenson | Leanna "Lee" Owen | Wilhelm "Bill" Hospel
DAVID D. HAYNES: Be shocked, and remember the victims
LORI NICKEL: Who cares about games at a tragic time like this?
How to help: Fund created to help those affected by parade attack
Donations have poured in since the attack.
The biggest one is a fund set up called the United for Waukesha Community Fund. The United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County and the Waukesha County Community Foundation partnered to create the fund.
Nearly $2 million had been raised for the victims in less than a week. There will be a tier system to distribute the funds to the victims.
People can make donations through the Waukesha Community Foundation at waukeshafoundation.org/parade.
GoFundMe has an umbrella page of all the fundraising drives that are verified.
Donors have raised the most for the Sparks family ($425,000) and the Waukesha South Marching Band ($213,500). Twenty-five other fundraising drives through GoFundMe have also raised significant money for deceased families or injured victims.
Contact Molly Beck at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha Christmas Parade: What we know about Darrell Brooks, victims