One dead after driver crashes into crowd at Pride Parade in Florida

One person died and another was injured after a pickup truck ran into a crowd of spectators at a Pride parade in south Florida on Saturday, local authorities said.

Police have apprehended the truck driver responsible for the crash at the festival in Fort Lauderdale, Mayor Dean Trantalis told Miami television station WSVN.

The intention of the driver remains unknown, police said, but Trantalis described the crash as a deliberate attack on the LGBTQ community, WSVN said.

Today, at the start of the Stonewall Pride Parade a truck struck two pedestrians in the 1700 block of NE 4th Ave. #FLPD & @WMPD411 send our deepest condolences to those injured and to those affected. We ask for patience as we work to conduct a thorough and complete investigation. pic.twitter.com/zV7QUndsSu

— Fort Lauderdale Police (@ftlauderdalepd) June 20, 2021

The report said the driver, who has not been publicly identified, acted like he was part of the Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride Parade and accelerated suddenly after being asked to move up.

"The investigation into this incident is active and we are considering and evaluating all possibilities," Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Ali Adamson said in a statement, adding that the police were working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The victims, both male, were transported to a local medical center where one was pronounced dead and the other is expected to survive, the statement said.

"Due to a tragic event, the Stonewall Pride Parade has been canceled but the festival events will continue," Wilton Manors Police Department said in a tweet.

Democratic Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was in the parade, tweeted that she was safe, though she was “deeply shaken and devastated that a life was lost and others seriously injured.”