'There were pom-poms, shoes, and spilled hot chocolate everywhere': Witnesses describe carnage at the Wisconsin parade where a driver plowed into a marching band and dance team, killing at least 5
- People described carnage at a Waukesha, Wisconsin, parade where an SUV driver left dozens injured.
- One man, Corey Montiho, said he went from "one crumpled body to the other" looking for his daughter.
People who attended a holiday parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Sunday described horrific scenes of carnage and injury after an SUV driver plowed into a marching band and dance troupe.
Corey Montiho, a Waukesha school-board member, said he went from "one crumpled body to the other" looking for his daughter, who was part of a dance team performing in the parade.
"There were pom-poms and shoes and spilled hot chocolate everywhere," Montiho told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I had to go from one crumpled body to the other to find my daughter. My wife and two daughters were almost hit. Please pray for everybody. Please pray.
"My family is safe, but many are not. I held one little girl's head in my hand. She was seizing and she was bleeding out of her ears. I held her mother as she collapsed."
The Waukesha Police Department on Sunday night said at least five people died in the incident and more than 40 people were injured, some of them children. It said the numbers could change. Shocking videos have emerged, with clips showing the red SUV mowing down members of a marching band and tearing through a barricade.
"As we were walking back in between the buildings, we saw an SUV cross over, just put the pedal to the metal and just zooming full speed along the parade route," Tenorio said. "And then we heard a loud bang, and just deafening cries and screams from people who are struck by the vehicle."
He added that he saw people running away and crying, while others were on the ground and appeared to have been hit by the vehicle.
"It just all happened so fast," he added.
The local news outlet GM Today talked to David Monfre, who said his son was a band member playing in the parade. He said his son had just passed by with his band when a red car went "barreling" past.
"My son just passed with his band, which is Waukesha South, and a truck (came) barreling through, almost hit the back of a float truck," Monfre said, adding: "It ended up hitting a bunch of band members, and it went all the way up the road."
Monfre told GM Today that his son was not injured but that it had been a close call.
"I was calling for my son, but I was also helping others that were injured, making sure that they were stable, talking to some of them, just making sure that they could hear a comforting voice," Monfre said.
Kaylee Staral, a Journal Sentinel intern who attended the parade, told CNN the incident happened about 20 to 30 minutes into the parade.
"There were a lot of screams, and we almost thought maybe it was Santa, but it was a red SUV, and it hit a lot of people," Staral told CNN.
"Right in front of me in the little spot where I was sitting, probably four people were down, so there were a lot of people that ran to go check on them," Staral said. "I believe that the four people in front of me were still breathing, but they were down. They were not moving."
According to the Waukesha city website, the parade was scheduled to take place 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The parade's lineup consisted of 67 groups, including several bands from local schools as well as local dance and performing-arts groups.
This article has been updated.