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Yesterday, saw a vehicle attack during the annual Waukesha Christmas Parade 2021 - “Comfort and Joy”, which resulted in 5 dead and 40 injured when an SUV purposefully drove into the crowd. Waukesha Police Chief Daniel Thompson, confirmed shots were fired by police at the vehicle in an attempt to force it to stop. This morning, 22 November, police advised that they have a “person of interest is in custody”
Waukesha UPDATE - 22 NOV 2021
Darrel Brooks, 39 of Milwaukee, has been identified as the individual who drove the red SVU into the Waukesha Christmas parade, killing five and injuring at least 48 individuals according to a Tweet from Kristen Barbaresi (CBS 58). Police stated at a press conference, that Brooks was fleeing a “domestic disturbance.” He is being held and and the police are recommending the initial charges be for five counts of “first degree intentional homicide.”
End update
“Today our community faced horror and tragedy in what should have been a community celebration. I’m deeply saddened to know that so many in our community went to a parade but ended up dealing with injury and heartache. ,” said Mayor Shawn Reilly.
Posted on the Waukesha Police Department’s Facebook page is information about the “United for Waukesha Community Fund” to support the needs of the family affected by this attack. Waukesha County Community Foundation and United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County joined together to create the fund.
Vehicle ramming attacks
Acts of violence and terror are not limited foreign locales, and therefore, whenever traveling to an event, one should be mindful of the potential of a terrorist attack, including vehicular attacks (aka car ramming) such as this one.
In April 2018, a vehicle plowed into pedestrians along a Toronto, Canada street killing 10 and injuring 15. The Bastille Day vehicular attack by a semi-truck in Nice, France, another act of terror resulted in scores dead and more injuried.
While the odds of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and being targeted by a vehicle intent on ramming pedestrians, they are not zero. In 2018, Securely Travel published the following guidance, which upon review is as valid today in 2021 as it was in 2018.
