‘Person of interest’ pictured as five killed and more than 40 injured after car driven into Christmas parade
A man police are questioning after five people were killed and more than 40 were injured when a vehicle drove through a Christmas parade in Wisconsin has been named in US media.
NBC reported that Darrell Brooks, 39, from Wisconsin, is a person of interest being held in custody. He has not been charged with any crime, it said.
It comes after a red SUV hit dozens of people in the city of Waukesha, which is about 20 miles west of central Milwaukee, just before 5pm on Sunday.
Wisconsin live updates: Police investigating whether suspect was fleeing knife incident
Police in Waukesha have urged people to avoid the downtown area
One video showed a woman screaming “Oh my God!” repeatedly as a group of young dancers was struck, while a father described going from “one crumpled body to the other” in search of his daughter.
“At this time, we can confirm that five people are deceased and over 40 are injured,” the Waukesha Police Department said on its Facebook page. “However, these numbers may change as we collect additional information.”
15 children have been taken to Wisconsin’s Children’s Hospital, but their condition is unknown.
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Five people have died and more than 40 are injured after a vehicle drove through a Christmas parade in the US state of Wisconsin.
Earlier, officials said a “person of interest” who may have a significant criminal history was being questioned overnight, adding that investigators were looking into the possibility the driver had been involved in an earlier incident involving a knife and was fleeing when the vehicle reached the parade.
The speeding SUV appeared to approach the parade from behind, and police chief Dan Thompson said an officer has shot at it in an attempt to stop it as it crashed through the barriers. It is estimated it was travelling at about 40mph.
No one was injured by the police gunshots.
Spilt candy is seen on Main Street the morning after
The SUV hit dozens of people
Eleven adults and 12 children were taken to hospital after being hit by the vehicle and Mr Thompson confirmed there were “some fatalities”. Many took themselves to hospital to be treated for injuries.
Corey Montiho, a Waukesha school district board member, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his daughter’s dance team was hit by the vehicle.
“There were pompoms and shoes and spilled hot chocolate everywhere,” he said.
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Witness describes what she saw and heard in Waukesha after an SUV was driven into a crowd.
“I had to go from one crumpled body to the other to find my daughter,” he said.
“My wife and two daughters were almost hit. Please pray for everybody. Please pray.”
Chris Germain, co-owner of the Aspire Dance Center studio, had about 70 people in the parade, including children as young as 2 being pulled in wagons and participants up to 18 years old.
“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.
Milwaukee Dancing Grannies confirmed members of their troupe are among the dead.
In a Facebook post, the group said: “Those who died were extremely passionate Grannies.
“Their eyes gleamed… joy of being a Grannie. They were the glue… held us together.
“Our hearts are heavy at this most difficult time, as more information and updates become available it will be posted.
“Please keep them their families, friends, the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies and everyone who lives have forever changed in your thoughts and prayers.”
The scene after a vehicle ploughs through a Christmas parade in in Waukesha, Wisconsin
Angela O’Boyle, whose apartment overlooked the Christmas parade, told CNN she heard people screaming and shouting for their children.
She said: “All I heard was screaming and then people yelling out their children’s names.”
Ms O’Boyle added that she “saw the car come and plow into the band that was just past my balcony at that point”.
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Five deaths have been confirmed, with many more injured after a vehicle was driven into people at a Christmas parade.
“It hit at least two people right away and rolled over them.
“And then continued down the road to People’s Park which is at the end of the block and then kept going, it didn’t stop.”
Jurors in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs have reached a verdict on four of the five counts against him – but the hip-hop mogul will have to wait to learn his fate.
In tense scenes towards the end of the court day on Tuesday, jurors sent a note to say they had reached verdicts on two charges of sex trafficking and two charges of transportation for prostitution, but had been unable to reach a unanimous decision on the charge of racketeering conspiracy.
Combs‘s lawyers surrounded him at the defence table after the note was sent to the court, and at one point he held his head in his hands.
After discussions with prosecution and defence lawyers, Judge Arun Subramanian told jurors to continue deliberating on Wednesday rather than deliver a partial verdict.
Combs and one of his lawyers, Marc Agnifilo, earlier in the day. Pic: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
The jury has testimony from more than 30 witnesses to consider – including Combs’s former long-term partner Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and another former girlfriend called “Jane”, who testified under a pseudonym to protect her identity.
Prosecutors allege the 55-year-old rapper used his fame and power to force Cassie and “Jane” into drug-fuelled sex sessions with male sex workers, which were referred to as “freak-offs”, “wild king nights”, or “hotel nights”.
He was also physically violent and blackmailed them with footage, jurors were told.
They also heard from “Mia”, a former employee who alleged she was sexually assaulted by the rapper on several occasions during her career. She also testified using a pseudonym.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges and his defence team has argued that prosecutors are attempting to criminalise what they say was a consensual “swingers lifestyle”.
The rapper chose not to testify and his lawyers did not call any witnesses, building their arguments instead through lengthy cross-examinations of the witnesses called by the prosecution.
What is racketeering conspiracy?
Racketeering conspiracy, which is count one on the verdict sheet, is the most complicated of the charges against Combs.
Jurors need to decide not only whether the rapper created a “racketeering enterprise”, but also if he was involved in various offences as part of this, including kidnapping, arson and bribery.
The charge falls under the US’s RICO laws (the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act), which is best known for being used in relation to organised crime and drug cartel cases.
Read more:
Prosecution’s closing argument
Defence’s closing argument
After closing arguments last week, jurors began deliberation on Monday and had spent about 13 hours discussing in total by the time they sent their note.
Before reaching the verdict on the four counts, they had requested to review crucial testimony from Cassie about her account of an assault in a hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.
Captured on CCTV, the footage was played in court several times – showing Combs, wearing only a towel and socks, beating, kicking and dragging Cassie in a hallway.
His defence team admitted in their opening statement that this was domestic violence, and said the music star regretted these actions – but that they did not amount to any of the federal charges against him.
Read more:
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
What we learned from Cassie’s testimony
As well as Cassie’s evidence on that assault, they asked to see her testimony on an incident at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 – when she said Combs accused her of taking drugs from him and kicked her off of his yacht.
On their way back to the US, she told the court, he threatened to release explicit videos of her having sex with an escort.
Jurors also wanted to review testimony given by a male sex worker at the start of the trial.
Combs could face 15 years to life in prison if he is convicted of all charges.
Jurors will continue deliberating on the racketeering conspiracy charge on Wednesday.
Elon Musk has stepped up his attacks on Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill – weeks after a spectacular fallout between the world’s richest man and the US president.
Following weeks of relative silence after clashing with Mr Trump over his “big beautiful bill”, the billionaire vowed to unseat politicians who support it.
In a post on X, Musk said those who had campaigned on cutting spending but then backed the bill “should hang their heads in shame”.
He added: “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
Musk also threatened to put their faces on a poster which said “liar” and “voted to increase America’s debt” by $5trn (£3.6trn).
The posts attracted a swift reply from Mr Trump, who claimed the billionaire “may get more subsidy than any human being in history” for his electric car business.
“Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
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Elon’s dad on the Musk-Trump bust-up
Musk spent at least $250m (£182m) supporting Mr Trump in his presidential campaign and then led the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which sacked about 120,000 federal employees.
He has argued the legislation would greatly increase the US national debt and wipe out the savings he claimed he achieved through DOGE.
As the Senate discussed the package, Musk called it “utterly insane and destructive”.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said the bill’s massive spending indicated “we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!”
“Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people,” he wrote.
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Musk previously said some of his social media posts during his dramatic fallout with Mr Trump “went too far”.
He had shared a series of posts on X, including one that described Mr Trump’s tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination”.
He also claimed, in a since-deleted post, that the president appeared in files relating to the disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
But Musk later wrote: “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”
In response, the president told the New York Post: “I thought it was very nice that he did that.”
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