WAUKESHA, Wis. — Waukesha continues to come together after Sunday's horrific tragedy at the Christmas Parade.
Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly has since talked about the outpouring of community support and the emotional help his community still needs.
"It hurt a lot of people and it hurts me," said Mayor Reilly.
He says he had just returned home from walking in the Christmas parade. He then started hearing lots of sirens.
By the time he made it to City Hall to monitor what was happening, the situation quickly turned to an unthinkable nightmare.
"To me, it was immediately apparent that this was a situation that many people were injured and that people had died," Mayor Reilly said.
Mayor Reilly noted how proud he was of the teamwork he saw during the difficult moment.
"We work together as a team. Our police department, under some of the worst circumstances did a phenomenal job. Our firefighters jumped in and did what was necessary," he said.
It wasn't just fire and police, the city and surrounding communities have rallied with a helping hand and financial donations.
"There was so many families that were affected by this," said Mayor Reilly. "To a certain extent, there's also some people that are dealing with emotional trauma and I think they will need some help to."
Reilly isn't just the two term Mayor of Waukesha, he was born and raised in the city. He has childhood memories, as well as his own children, of the annual Christmas parade in downtown Waukesha.
"I sat on the curb of this parade as a little kid, probably my entire childhood. We were always down here, " said Mayor Reilly. "This is a parade that has a lot of history. It's almost six decades of having this wonderful event where people come together and celebrate."
Mayor Reilly said he thinks the Christmas parade will continue.
"Yes, I mean, I think it will," he said. "It would make me very sad if we lose Christmas parades."