Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Associated Press)-The head of the group said on Sunday that at the beginning of the South Florida Pride Parade, a member of a men’s choir accidentally bumped into other choir members , Leading to the death of one member of the group and severe injuries to another member, and correcting the initial guess that this was a hate crime against the gay community.

Wilton Manors Deputy Mayor Paul Rolli and Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said that early investigations revealed that this was an accident. The 77-year-old driver has been detained, but the police said that no charges have been filed and the investigation is still ongoing.

Fort Lauderdale police issued a statement on Sunday saying that the elderly driver was sick and unable to walk. He said he was cooperating with the investigation and there was no evidence that drugs or alcohol were involved.

Raleigh told the Associated Press in a telephone interview: “The early investigation now shows that this looks like a tragic accident, but in the end no one said what it was.”

The driver and the victim were members of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Choir, a small group of 25 people, mainly older men.

“Our choir members are all injured, and the driver is also a member of the choir family. As far as I know, this is not an attack on the LGBTQ community,” President Justin Knight said in a statement on Sunday, saying it was ” Unfortunate accident”.

Raleigh sat with Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis and other city officials on the float in front of the chorus truck, in the assembly area where the float was prepared. Trantalis said that when the driver of a pickup truck was told that he was the next in the parade, he suddenly accelerated and crashed into the victim.

Police said the driver continued to cross all lanes and eventually hit the fence on the other side of the street.

Raleigh was on the other side of the float, did not witness the crash, but immediately jumped off and ran to the victims. In the chaos, it is not clear what happened.

“People are really upset, some people are crying,” said Raleigh, who explained that the crash happened in a line of floats, so there were not many people marching. “At the other end of the waiting parade, I received a call from people I know and they said,’Is this true? Is it true? Is there anything we can worry about? You didn’t know at that time.”

Fort Lauderdale police said that they had not arrested anyone, saying they were conducting a thorough investigation with the FBI, and stated in a statement that they were “considering and evaluating all possibilities.”

Fort Lauderdale’s first mayor to publicize homosexuality, Trantalis, initially told reporters that the behavior was deliberate and added to the chaos on Saturday night.

“It makes me and the people around me feel terrified… I worry that this might have been seen from a few feet away. This was intentional,” he said in a Twitter statement on Sunday. “As the facts continue to be pieced together, a scene of an accident involving a truck out of control is emerging.”

Wilton Manor is a close-knit community near Fort Lauderdale. The vibrant downtown is full of cute shops, where people line up to buy Rosie’s famous hamburger or chat and drink at George’s Alibi Monkey Bar.

Photos and videos at the scene showed that Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Debbie Wasserman Schultz) burst into tears while driving a convertible in a military parade.

In a statement on Saturday night, Wasserman Schultz said she was safe, but “deeply shocked and shocked by the passing of a life.”

“I feel very sad about what happened during this celebration,” she said. “May the memory of the lost life be for blessings.”

The choir spokesperson stated that the director did not want to be interviewed, adding that many members of the group had witnessed the fatal crash and were deeply shocked.

“The reason people like Wilton Manor is that the entire community is a big family, and this is how we treat each other… It really makes a lot of people uneasy,” Raleigh said. “Even if it’s an accident, it’s just death.”

June is Pride Month, commemorating the June 1969 uprising, when police raided gay customers at the Stonewall Hotel in New York. This is a catalyst for the gay rights movement.