A truck has rammed into a crowd celebrating the Stonewall Pride Parade in Florida, killing one and hospitalizing another, police confirmed.
A white pickup truck was lined up with other floats in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when the driver slammed on the accelerator and struck two adult males waiting to participate in the parade along Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors, Florida, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. First responders rushed to help both victims, who were transported to Broward Health Medical Center, where one died and the other remains in critical condition, the Local 10 News reported. The victims’ identities remain unknown.
The truck missed striking the car of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was participating in the parade, “by inches,” Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said.
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The motive of the driver, who is now in police custody, remains unknown, but Trantalis believes it was intentional.
“This is a terrorist attack against the LGBT community,” he said. “This is exactly what it is. Hardly an accident. It was deliberate, it was premeditated, and it was targeted against a specific person. Luckily, they missed that person, but unfortunately, they hit two other people.”
In addition to Wasserman Schultz, two elected officials, Rep. Ted Deutsch and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, both Democrats, confirmed they attended the event and witnessed the incident. Deutsch said that he was “devastated by the horror [he] saw at Wilton Manors Pride” and was “mourning life taken & praying for injured & families of both,” and Fried wrote that she was “praying for [the victims] and their families,” noting she was “lucky to be safe.”
Wilton Manors Mayor Scott Newton called the incident “tragic” and said the city would be canceling the parade.
The twilight parade, themed “Out of the Darkness, Into the Light,” began at Northeast 21st Court in Wilton Manors at approximately 7 p.m., but the crash reportedly took place in nearby Fort Lauderdale. Other festivities will be allowed to continue as scheduled, and participants are not in any danger, Wilton Manors Police said.
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The incident will be investigated by authorities, Newton added.
