Suspect in Waukesha parade incident was reportedly fleeing a knife fight, official says


The suspect identified as having allegedly driven his car through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wis. on Sunday, "killing at least five people and injuring more than 40," was reportedly "speeding away" from a separate incident, a law enforcement official told The Washington Post.
Suspect Darrell Brooks, 39, was apparently "at the scene of a reported knife fight," then fled "in the red SUV when police arrived at that scene," the Post reports, per the official. Brooks is believed to have been behind the wheel of the car when it then drove into the parade route.
The law enforcement official also told the Post that Brooks has other criminal arrests on his record, but investigators have yet to find any evidence connecting the Waukesha tragedy with terrorism or any sort of terrorist ideology; thus far, it seems the suspect's "main intent was to escape the police at the prior incident," writes the Post, per the official. That said, Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said Sunday evening that it was "unknown at this time whether the incident has any nexus to terrorism."
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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
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