Police says Pride parade car crash ‘accidental’ [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The Fort Lauderdale Police ruled on Sunday that the Pride car crash resulting in two casualties was “unintentional.”
• The driver was a 77-year-old man who was also a parade participant.
• Authorities said that no charges have been made but investigation will continue.

Officials said Sunday that the car crash during the Saturday Pride parade in Fort Lauderdale, Florida was an accident, contrary to the initial report of a potential “hate crime” against the LGBTQ community.

The accident resulted in one fatality and one injured.

Per initial investigation, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis and Wilton Manors Vice Mayor Paul Rolli said that it was an accident. The driver, a 77-year-old man, was already in police custody as the investigation went on. No charges have been filed yet.

The Fort Lauderdale Police issued a statement Sunday, saying that the elderly driver was ill and had difficulty walking. There was no trace of drugs or alcohol, and the man expressed cooperation with the probe.

“The early investigation now indicates it looks like it was a tragic accident, but nobody’s finally saying what it is,” Rolli told The Associated Press.

Both the driver and the victims were a part of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus family. It was a small group composed largely of older men.

“Our fellow Chorus members were those injured and the driver is also a part of the Chorus family. To my knowledge, this was not an attack on the LGBTQ community,” group President Justin Knight said in a statement Sunday, who described the event as a “tragic accident.”

Trantalis and Rolli both participated in the parade as they were on the float with other city officials. They were in front of the chorus truck when suddenly, the pickup truck driver accelerated after organizers told him he was next in the parade.

The pick-up crashed into the victims and continued moving across the other traffic lanes before crashing into a fence located on the opposite side of the street.

“People were really distraught and some people were crying,” Rolli said, noting that the crash happened in an area where the floats were lining up.

“I was getting phone calls from people I knew at the other end waiting for the parade saying, ‘Is this true? Is that true, do we have anything to worry about?’ You don’t know at that point.”

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), who was also present during the parade, appeared to be in tears following the incident.

Schultz said she was safe but was “deeply shaken and devastated that a life was lost.”

“I am so heartbroken by what took place at this celebration,” she said in a statement on Saturday. “May the memory of the life lost be for a blessing.”

Per local authorities, no arrests were made but they will continue to investigate together with the FBI.

Source: AOL.com