ANCHORAGE, Alaska, June 26 (UPI) -- A 50-year-old man was killed during Saturday's gay pride parade in Anchorage, Alaska, when he was struck by the parade marshal's car, police said.
The unidentified man was holding a banner and marching in the parade directly in front of the marshal's vehicle when he was struck as the parade was just beginning, police told KTUU.com
"As I understand, the vehicle hit him and continued on," Lt. David Parker of the Anchorage Police Department said. "I don't know if there was a mechanical problem or not."
The parade was immediately canceled, and celebrants were directed to the Parkstrip, where low-key festivities continued.
"We just came out to see the parade and were waiting for it to start," witness Suzi Barrett said. "It was a really happy mood, and suddenly it came to a halt."
"Everybody was happy and videotaping, like I said, but then we heard a crunch and somebody yell help," witness Paula James said.
"They will do all the measurements and take photographs for evidentiary purposes," Parker said. "They have to check the mechanics of the vehicle to determine if the vehicle was functioning and then they take witness statements and pull all of that together so it could take us a couple of weeks until there's a final determination of what exactly happened."
