World enews: Waukesha parade attack: Darrell Brooks charged with intentional homicide as he appears in court

Darrell Brooks was charged with five counts of intentional homicide as he appeared in court over the Waukesha Christmas parade attack.

Five people were killed and 62 injured in the chaos that unfolded in the Wisconsin city, which is about 20 miles west of downtown Milwaukee.

If convicted Mr Brooks, 39, would face a mandatory life sentence in prison.

Crowds were gathered along Main Street for the parade when a red SUV drove through a series of barricades and sloughed through the parade route.

A Waukesha police officer fired their gun to try and stop the driver, according to Chief Daniel Thompson.

Prosecutors are expected file other lesser charges in relation to those people injured in the attack.

Newly filed court documents quote a witness to the incident who told investigators, “As I continued to watch the SUV, it continued to drive in a zig zag motion. It was like the SUV was trying to avoid vehicles, not people. There was no attempt made by the vehicle to stop, much less slow down.”

The criminal complaint does not give any details about the actual arrest of if Mr Brooks made any statements to police.

Before the hearing Court Commissioner Kevin Costello warned people in the courtroom to remain calm despite the allegations against Mr Brooks and to leave if they were overcome with emotion.

The defendant appeared to be wearing a protective vest as he was led into court to sit beside his lawyers.

Prosectors asked for $5m cash bail saying “it is warranted given his history” and described him as “a threat to our community.”

The five deceased victims have been identified as Virginia Sorenson, 79; LeAnna Owen, 71; Tamara Durand, 52; Jane Kulich, 52; and Wilhelm Hospel, 81.

The injured included a Catholic poorest and members of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies group.

Mr Brooks was arrested earlier this month for using a 2010 maroon Ford Escape to run over the mother of his child, according to court documents.

A criminal complaint in that incident states that a woman told police that Mr Brooks had pulled up beside her following an earlier domestic dispute.

He told her to get into his car, and when she refused he allegedly hit her in the face with a closed fist, according to the complaint.

He was released on a $1,000 bond on charges that included domestic abuse and was accused of using a car to cause injury, according to a criminal complaint.

Mr Brooks is also a registered sex offender in Nevada, where he was convicted in 2006 of impregnating a 15-year-old, according to ABC News.

He was then arrested again in 2016 when he failed to obey sex offender laws.

He bailed out on the charge but never returned to court, according to police in Sparks, Nevada and a warrant was issued in August 2016 for that failure to appear.