Photo: JLN Photography/Shutterstock
Both victims and the 77-year-old driver of the car were members of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus, and had gathered to celebrate the Stonewall Pride Parade in Fort Lauderdale, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department said in apress release.
A preliminary investigation found that a 2011 Dodge Ram was stopped in the staging area and awaiting the parade’s start when the driver “accelerated unexpectedly,” hurtling the car forward, officials said.
The Ram struck two pedestrians before traveling across all lanes of traffic and crashing into the fence of a business, the release said. The driver was a participant in the parade, but had unspecified ailments that prevented him from walking in it, so he was chosen to drive the lead vehicle.
“The Fort Lauderdale Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation collaborated in investigating this incident with a goal of understanding the totality of the circumstances, and to identity if this was an accident, or an intentional act,” Wilton Manors Police Department Chief of Police Gary Blocker wrote in aletter to the community. “Today we know yesterday’s incident was a tragic accident, and not a criminal act directed at anyone, or any group of individuals.”
JLN Photography/Shutterstock
Police said the two male pedestrians were transported to Broward Health Medical Center with serious injuries, and one was pronounced dead a short time later. The second man was still hospitalized as of Sunday, but is expected to survive.
Police said no arrests have been made, and the driver of the car remained on the scene and has been cooperative with police. A DUI investigation showed no signs of impairment.
source: people.com
