A driver struck several bystanders Saturday night at the start of a gay pride parade in South Florida,
killing one person and seriously injuring another,
authorities said.
The truck driver acted like he was part of the Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride Parade, but then suddenly sped off when told he was next and crashed into victims, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said, according to WSVN-TV. .
Wilton Manors is just north of Fort Lauderdale.
[A Hispanic man dies after being run over three times in Los Angeles. The drivers fled]
Authorities said one of the victims
later died from his injuries.
The other victim was hospitalized.
The driver of the truck was arrested.
Authorities did not immediately provide further details on the victims or say whether they believe the accident was intentional.
A car hit two people protesting on a Seattle street
July 4, 202000: 19
Trantalis said he believes the accident
was "deliberate"
and an attack on the LGBTQ community, although authorities have not confirmed this hypothesis.
Photos and video from the scene show Democratic Rep.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz crying in a convertible at the parade.
In a statement Saturday night, Wasserman Schultz said she was safe but "deeply shocked and devastated by the loss of a life."
[A police car cuts through a crowd and runs over several people in Tacoma, Washington]
"I am so heartbroken about what happened at this celebration," she said.
"May the memory of life lost be a blessing."
Spectator Christina Currie told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that she was with her family at the start of the parade.
Police are investigating the scene where a man in a pickup truck collided with a crowd of people at an LGBTQ Pride parade on June 19, 2021 in Wilton Manors, Florida.
Jason Koerner / Getty Images
"Suddenly there was the loud acceleration of a truck and a crash," Currie said.
"It was definitely an intentional act of crossing lanes of traffic."
Wilton Manors police tweeted Saturday night that the public is no longer in danger.
"Although authorities are still gathering information, we know that
two people who were marching to celebrate inclusion and equality were struck by a vehicle
," Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony said in a statement.
"This tragedy took place just feet from me and my team (from the Broward Sheriff's Office), and we are devastated to have witnessed this horrible incident."
June is Pride Month, commemorating the June 1969 police raid on LGBTQ patrons at the Stonewall Inn bar in New York that led the LGBTQ community to rise up in protest and served as a catalyst for the rights movement. LGBTQ.