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7 years after 'Slender Man' terrified Waukesha, tragedy returns to city

As one of the girls behind the stabbings is released after 3 years, the city faces another major tragedy with 28 injured, suspect in custody

On September 13, 2021, Anissa Weier was released from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. It marked a major milestone for Waukesha, with the city still healing from the brutal 'slender man' stabbing Weier was convicted over. Now, just two months later, the city has been hit with another tragic incident, during a Christmas parade on November 21. 

One suspect has been taken into custody over the incident, in which at least 23 people have reportedly been injured. According to reports, a car plowed into a Christmas parade in the city. The tragedy has for many, brought back the horrors of the 'slender man' stabbing that haunted Waukesha since 2014.

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Right now, there's a lot we don't know about the tragedy. Social media has identified the suspect as a man with a long criminal history, but police so far have not made his identity public. It's also unclear why the man drove into the parade, but so far it doesn't seem like an accident. 

Parade tragedy brings back memories

Until 2014, Waukesha in Wisconsin remained like most cities in the USA, it wasn't as well-known nationally as it was locally. Then all that changed on May 31, 2014. Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, who there then 12-years-old, lured their friend Payton Leutner into a forest and stabbed her 17 times in a bid to please the fictional character slender man. Thankfully Leutner survived, but the attack put Waukesha on the national map.

Both Weier and Geyser were committed to mental health institutions, where Geyser still remains. Weier is now on conditional release and is living with her father under GPS monitoring. The case gained notoriety for both Weier and Geyser being tried as adults, despite being just 12 years old. It also inspired a series of shows and films, including an episode of 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.' 

So naturally, when news of the attack on the Christmas parade made it to social media, people couldn't help but draw the connection to the slender man case. Even though it's been over 7 years since the stabbing, the case remains fresh in people's minds as these social media comments show.

"When Waukesha realizes it’s trending for something other than the Slender Man stabbings," one person tweeted with a GIF. Another commented, "Also, this might be a bad time, but Waukesha is the same town where the slender man stabbing happened, sooooo…" Another eagle-eyed user tweeted, "Interesting. It’s amazing how fast the wiki page updates. Waukesha is also the site of the 2014 Slender Man stabbing."

In the aftermath of the stabbings, Waukesha made numerous changes in an attempt to heal. The Creepypasta Wiki was blocked throughout the school district, a move that drew the attention of slender man's creator Eric Knudsen. It's unclear if Weier is still living in the city since being released, but her release did cause some friction. But just as the city did begin to move on, the parade tragedy occurred.