Updated Nov. 22.
WAUKESHA, Wis. — Local business owners told The Federalist about the chaotic aftermath following the SUV that barreled through crowds at a Christmas parade in Waukesha Sunday night. On Monday, firemen and street sweepers could be seen cleaning candy off of the streets while police took down caution tape, after authorities reopened the Main Street area.
“I was right here looking out the window and we heard a bunch of noise, and we thought maybe it was part of the parade, but it was actually the car,” Dan Faustmann, the owner of local business Guitar for Life, told The Federalist. “And then all you see is an SUV come flying down the road at like 30, 40 miles an hour, and just clipping kids all the way down the street. And he kept going all the way down another three blocks.”
“My wife and I ran outside trying to help,” he added. “I was getting people in here and away from everything.”
Faustmann praised the police and paramedics, saying “they ran out of ambulances so they were putting them in the back of squad cars.” There were civilians taking people to the hospital, he said, and “people carrying people down the street just to get to the cars” since the streets were blocked off.
Dan Faustmann of Guitar For Life tells his story #WaukeshaWisconsin pic.twitter.com/C0rneqOAIv
— Kylee Zempel (@kyleezempel) November 22, 2021
Dan’s mother, Pat, also told The Federalist that “everything happened so fast, and what I saw here was just bodies.”
“Somebody had said shots fired, and they thought they had come from the sky, so everybody was making a beeline into a building if they could get in, so normally Dan’s not open on Sunday but because of the parade we were mulling about town here so he opened up and let everybody come in that wanted to,” she added.
“Everything happened so fast, and what I saw here was just bodies,” Pat tells me. pic.twitter.com/HaQQZGo2CF
— Kylee Zempel (@kyleezempel) November 22, 2021
Police confirmed the names of five victims on Monday: Virginia Sorenson, 79, LeAnna Owen, 71, Tamara Durand, 52, Jane Kulich, 52, and Wilhelm Hospel, 81.
Sorenson was one of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, and Kulich worked at Citizen Bank.
Virginia “Ginny” Sorenson (third from the right) was one of the beloved Milwaukee Dancing Grannies.💔 pic.twitter.com/bAHnQ4PFrD
— Kylee Zempel (@kyleezempel) November 22, 2021
Jane Kulich was a team member at Citizen Bank. Here she was with her family on vacation. pic.twitter.com/gDhBa1JxMi
— Kylee Zempel (@kyleezempel) November 22, 2021
As of Monday, 18 children had been reportedly sent to the Children’s Wisconsin hospital, with two scheduled for operations that day. Between the ages of 3 and 16, six children were in critical condition, three in serious, and nine in fair condition, with three sets of siblings hospitalized, according to the hospital’s pediatric ICU medical director.
Locals watch Children’s Wisconsin hospital update. 18 children were sent to that hospital. Reports that 2 are being operated on today. pic.twitter.com/YsJ1wtpmQU
— Kylee Zempel (@kyleezempel) November 22, 2021
Kylee Zempel and Elle Reynolds contributed to this reporting.
Source: Waukesha Citizens Reel From Christmas Parade Attack, Describe Bodies In The Street