Five Killed, 40 Injured After SUV Plows into Holiday Parade Marchers in Wisconsin (+Video)

Videos of the incident posted on social media showed a red SUV speeding around the parade marchers and eventually hitting a group of participants, CBSNews reported.

"At this time, we can confirm that five people are deceased and over 40 are injured," the Waukesha Police Department said on its Facebook page. "However, these numbers may change as we collect additional information."

Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson earlier told reporters that a person of interest was in custody and a vehicle had been recovered after the incident in the town, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Milwaukee.

It was not known whether the incident was related to terrorism, but there was no further danger and an earlier shelter-in-place order in the town of around 72,000 had been lifted, Thompson said.

A video posted online showed a red sport utility vehicle plowing at speed through the parade, appearing to run over more than a dozen people before crowds ran from sidewalks to offer assistance.

Thompson said an officer fired shots at the vehicle in an attempt to stop the carnage. Another video on social media appeared to show police firing on the vehicle as it crashed through street barriers. Police did not believe shots had been fired from the vehicle, Thompson added, contrary to earlier reports.

A woman told Milwaukee's Fox6 TV station that the SUV hit a dance team of girls between 9 and 15 years old. She said the immediate reaction was silence, followed by screaming, running and checking on those injured, Fox6 reported. Video on social media showed small groups surrounding injured girls with white pompoms scattered around.

One witness said the driver also hit a group of "Dancing Grannies" and at least one person flipped over the hood of the SUV, according to Milwaukee's WISN-TV, an ABC affiliate.

Another witness estimated the SUV was going about 40 mph (64 kph) when it hit the crowd parading down the street, the TV station said.

The local CBS affiliate later showed a picture on Twitter of what appeared to be the red SUV involved with its hood crumpled and front fender hanging off, parked in a driveway.

Photos and videos of Waukesha circulating on Twitter showed police cars and ambulances crowding a street decked out with Christmas lights in the aftermath of the incident, which occurred shortly after 4:30 p.m. (2230 GMT). People bundled up against the cold huddled on sidewalks as dusk fell.

The Children's Wisconsin hospital said on Twitter it had received 15 patients as of 8 p.m., with no reported fatalities at that time.

Schools would remain closed on Monday for grades 4K-12 and additional counselors would be available for students who may need support services, the district superintendent of schools said.

In 2015, four people were killed and 46 injured in Stillwater, Oklahoma when a woman drove into a crowd watching the homecoming parade for a football team.

A truck was deliberately driven into a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany in 2016, killing 12 people in an attack linked to Daesh (ISIL or ISIS).