Photo Courtesy of Milwaukee County Jail
Darrell E. Brooks was arrested and accused of driving an SUV into the Waukesha Christmas Parade on Main Street in Wisconsin on November 21.
According to NBC News, Brooks was taken into custody after being arrested on five counts of intentional homicide, Waukesha Police Chief Daniel Thompson reported.
Officers identified the four women and the man who were killed as LeAnna Owen, Virginia Sorenson, Jane Kulich, Tamara Durand and Wilhelm Hospel.
Besides the deaths, there were 48 people injured, which includes two children who remain in critical condition, according to police.
Thompson said that Brooks “intentionally drove his maroon SUV through barricades and into a crowd of people” on that afternoon.
Before the parade crash, Brooks was involved in a domestic incident involving a knife, but it was not clear who the victim was, according to law enforcement sources.
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The suspect fled the crime scene just as police arrived and then took a route into the parade.
“Was there an initial complaint of a knife being involved? Yes,” Thompson said. “Do we know if there actually was one there? We don’t know because we didn’t even make it there. We ended up immediately responding to the crisis.”
Brooks was taken into custody soon after the crash.
“We’re confident he acted alone,” Thompson said. “We have no information that Brooks knew anybody in the parade.”
Brooks, who has a lengthy criminal record, was questioned overnight, and the knife incident was considered during investigators’ questioning.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office released a statement on Monday of Brooks’ pending charges, which includes second-degree recklessly endangering safety and a felon in possession of a firearm.
Brooks’ was also charged with resisting or obstructing an officer, bail jumping, disorderly conduct, and battery. He appeared in court on November 12 and is set to appear for another hearing next month.