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Investigators look at if Waukesha Christmas parade driver was fleeing crime

Christmas Parade SUV
Posted at 8:11 AM, Nov 22, 2021
and last updated 2021-11-22 14:57:18-05

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — A law enforcement official says investigators are examining whether the person who drove an SUV through a Christmas parade in Waukesha may have been fleeing from a crime when he sped into the paradegoers.

The investigators were questioning a person in custody about that incident, which the official described as an altercation involving a knife.

The official, who cautioned the investigation was still in the early stages and was continuing to develop, could not discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Christmas Parade SUV
Holiday decorations frame a police officer in downtown Waukesha, Wis., after a vehicle plowed into a parade of Christmas marchers, killing multiple people Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

The City of Waukesha posted on its social media accounts that it could confirm at least five died and more than 40 were injured at the Sunday parade, while noting that it was still collecting information.

Thomas Kluka Jr. was at the parade. He told TODAY he threw his daughter out of the way to avoid her being struck.

"I noticed him coming through the crowd and I noticed something was not right, and then I saw people flying as I stood up," Kluka told Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.

Christmas Parade SUV
Police canvass the streets in downtown Waukesha, Wis., after a vehicle plowed into a Christmas parade hitting multiple people Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

"I'm like 'Oh no.' My daughter stood up, I threw her out of the way, then I basically yelled, 'Get out of the way,' and my wife got out of the way, and by the time she did, the car came right past me within at least two feet. I could've touched the car going by."

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