The Waukesha Christmas Parade returned to downtown Waukesha Sunday one year after a driver plowed through the same event killing six people and injuring dozens more. The theme of this year's parade was Peace on Earth. There were 80 groups marching in the parade, many of which are the same that were struck by tragedy including the Waukesha Blazers baseball club, the Dancing Grannies and Catholic Communities of Waukesha. Several floats were decorated by Waukesha South High School band members and other students in honor of last year's victims. Terry Rutledge has been a part of the Waukesha community for 45 years and was in the parade last year with the Salvation Army.On Sunday, he drove a decorated plow. Emotions were running high not only for the people who performed in the parade but also for those who attended. "Last year after the parade we all came together, and it's just nice that even a year later, we're all still together, so it kind of solidified the whole community and kept us solidified for the whole year. The spirit never went away for Waukesha Strong," said Andrea Dorantes, who attended last year's parade.Santa and Mrs. Claus were the last attraction in the parade. The parade started at 4 p.m. along a new route and ended just before 5:30 p.m. It began at Cutler Park, near Maple and Wisconsin avenues. It then went east along Main Street, south on Barstow Street and ended back at Cutler Park. For some, it was an opportunity to heal. "It's a very full circle moment being back. Immediately after the events of last year I started therapy so that way I could start healing right away so this is definitely the last step in my healing process," said Joe Eisenman, who attended last year's parade. For others, like Eisenman's father, it was an opportunity to offer support. "I just went through everything that he went through last year. We weren't here but we went through it when he was here," said Chris Eisenman.The parade offered an opportunity for Waukesha to redefine its Christmas parade."Last year brought a lot of terror and a lot of confusion, but this year I honestly see nothing but happiness. That's definitely something that's different, but it's also definitely something that's amazing," said Joe Eisenman.Parade attendees created good memories to overshadow the bad ones. "We were here right in front of the Dancing Granny troop. So we saw a lot that day so it'll be good to see them back in the parade," said Dorantes.Healing Hearts of Wisconsin was on hand at Sunday's parade. The organization provides support for grieving children and their families. They had a tent sent up at Cutler Park. The group also had personnel along the parade route to provide support to those struggling.

The night of the Waukesha Christmas Parade attack, Sarah Wehmeier-Aparicio said she realized something was wrong the moment the music stopped playing. "Some of the kids stopped playing and I thought, 'Why aren't they playing?'" Wehmeier said. "That's when the screaming started and I turned around and he started driving through the band."She's referring to Darrell Brooks Jr., who police said drove through the parade in an SUV. Six people died. More than 60 were injured. She said she watched as the SUV sped past within inches of her, then heard gunfire, as police shot at the vehicle. "The kids were running, but we still had several on the ground and then a police officer came running and said, 'Shots fired, everybody run,'" Wehmeier said. "A lot of students were injured, not able to move, just laying on the street and they just felt so helpless they were there."The rest of the students scattered in storefronts, all while Wehmeier's own family was somewhere else along the parade route. "I remember having to make that choice: am I going to be a mom right now or am I going to be the band teacher right now? I had to be the band teacher in that moment," Wehmeier said. "Just checking the store, 'How are you guys doing?' Next store, 'How are you guys doing?' Then on the streets," Wehmeier said. Wehmeier said community members trained in first aid helped tend to the injured students, while waiting for emergency responders. She said 12 of her students received medical treatment. Sister station WISN was there when the final student, Erick Tiegs, 16, returned home from the hospital on Tuesday. He was playing trombone when the driver in the SUV struck him. Wehmeier said some of the students' instruments likely protected their bodies from serious harm. "We did hear our sousaphone, which is the marching version of the tuba, the doctor said that probably saved (the student's) life because the way it wrapped around him, it created a barrier that protected him as the car went over," Wehmeier said. "He said, 'Thank goodness for that sousaphone, it saved your life.'" Wehmeier said since returning to school on Monday, the students have taken time to process the trauma by talking as a group, using the student services counselors and taking in the support that's flooded into their school. Hundreds of handmade signs, handwritten notes, flowers and gifts have poured in from around the country for the Waukesha South marching band. Comfort dogs also gathered outside the school one day to help students open up. "I know some of the students who were towards the back of the band, they've really struggled because, 'If I had been in the one spot over, that would have been me,' and 'I should have been in that spot.' It's a lot more survivor's guilt, that they wish they had been in the spot of their classmates so they could have taken that for them," Wehmeier said.Wehmeier said talking to each other about the trauma from that day has helped the group process the most. She also said starting to play again together as a band has helped students return to some sense of normalcy. She said once her students learned the Dancing Grannies, another group struck in the parade, planned to march in a parade this weekend, the band wanted to rehearse again. "For me personally, this is something somebody did to us and so it makes me feel extra strong about wanting to get back to normal," Wehmeier said. "I did mention to them about the Dancing Grannies and they said, 'You know what, we want to play tomorrow.'" "(The Dancing Grannies) resiliency in the number of people they lost from their group and the fact they're ready to do a parade again this weekend is amazing and a great example," Wehmeier said. "I know our students have been really inspired by them."Wehmeier said her life experience has prepared her for this work. "I've been through other traumas in my life, so I know, as hard as things are right now, there is going to be some light in this at the end of the tunnel," Wehmeier said. "My students don't have that life experience yet and I have a really special honor to get to be at their side to walk them through this." When asked what she is currently reflecting on, Wehmeier said she's wondering about how this could have happened. "How many other people are slipping through the cracks with mental illness and trauma in their lives that allows them to get to this point, where they think that driving a car through a parade is an OK thing? What can we learn as a society to be preventive and proactive, to stop these things from happening," Wehmeier said.

Warning: The above video contains footage that some viewers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.An SUV driver sped through a police line and into a parade of Christmas marchers on Sunday, injuring 29 people in a horrifying scene captured by the city’s livestream and the cellphones of onlookers.Waukesha police Chief Dan Thompson said “some” people had been killed but would not give an exact number. A person was in custody, he said, but did not give any indication of a motive.One video shows a woman screaming, “Oh my God!” repeatedly after a group of girls wearing Santa hats and dancing with white pompoms is struck. Another shows the SUV plowing into members of a marching band, their music replaced with terrified screams Police also had custody of the vehicle, Thompson said. The investigation was ongoing.As the SUV broke through barricades, a Waukesha police officer fired his gun in an attempt to stop the vehicle, Thompson said. No bystanders were injured and Thompson said he did not know if the driver was struck by the officer's bullets.One video shows the moment the SUV broke through the barricades and the sound of what appears to be several gunshots.The video taken when the pompom dancers got struck ends with a group of people tending to one of the girls who is on the ground.Corey Montiho, a Waukesha school district board member, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his daughter’s dance team was hit by the SUV.“They were pompoms and shoes and spilled hot chocolate everywhere. I had to go from one crumpled body to the other to find my daughter,” he said. “My wife and two daughters were almost hit. Please pray for everybody. Please pray.”One entry in the parade, the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, posted on its Facebook page that “members of the group and volunteers were impacted and we are waiting for word on their conditions.” The post asked people to keep the Grannies and anyone else injured in their prayers. The group’s profile describes them as a “group of grannies that meet once a week to practice routines for summer and winter parades.”Chris Germain, co-owner of the Aspire Dance Center studio, had about 70 girls in the parade ranging from as young as 2 being pulled in wagons to age 18. Germain, whose own 3-year-old daughter was in the parade, said he was driving at the head of their entry when he saw a maroon SUV that “just blazed right past us.” A police officer came by on foot chasing after, he said. Germain said he jumped out of his own SUV and gathered the girls who were with him.“There were small children laying all over the road, there were police officers and EMTs doing CPR on multiple members of the parade," he said.Angelito Tenorio, a West Allis alderman who is running for Wisconsin state treasurer, said he was watching the parade with his family when they saw the SUV come speeding into the area.“Then we heard a loud bang,” Tenorio said. “And after that, we just heard deafening cries and screams from the crowd, from the people at the parade. And people started rushing, running away with tears in their eyes crying.”The Waukesha school district canceled classes Monday and said in a notice on its website that extra counselors would be on hand for students and staff. The parade’s list of entries included cheer, dance and band entries associated with district schools.Gov. Tony Evers said he and his wife, Kathy, were “praying for Waukesha tonight and all the kids, families, and community members affected by this senseless act.”Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, who was at the parade but left just before the incident, called it “an unspeakable tragedy, affecting us all as we work to overcome an extremely challenging two years and resume our cherished holiday traditions.”The parade is sponsored by the city’s Chamber of Commerce. This year’s edition was the 59th of the event that’s held each year the Sunday before Thanksgiving.The Associated Press contributed to this story.