WAUKESHA, Wis. — This Memorial Day, Waukesha held its first parade Monday since the Christmas parade in November where a driver blew through road blocks and hit and killed six people and injured more than 60 others.
A teenager who nearly died in the attack attended Monday's Memorial Day parade with his family.
Erick Tiegs, 16, was marching with the Waukesha South High School marching band when he was struck by the SUV.
He suffered a fractured skull and spine, broken ribs and a collapsed lung, and a broken femur and shoulder blade. He spent the first few days in ICU. He was previously in a wheelchair and has been working with a physical therapist.
Tiegs is now playing baseball again.
New barricades helped to restore confidence in parade goers on Monday. The new enhanced security measures were in place at Waukesha's Memorial Day parade. Modular Vehicle Barricades (MVB's) were deployed for the first time in the city. They are designed to stop any vehicle from breaching the secure parade perimeter.
The new MVB's were paid for by $800,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Waukesha has received about half of its order of MVB's. Police say the other half of the order should arrive in time for the Fourth of July parade.
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The new barricades will be used for all Waukesha parades going forward, as well as for Friday Night Live events downtown. There was also a new parade route followed Monday, which will become the permanent route for all future parades. This will allow the city to create a "set, closed perimeter" around the area.
