A man has appeared in court charged with multiple homicides after a car plowed into a Christmas parade in the US – as a child became the sixth person to die after the incident.

Darrell Brooks, 39, cried and rocked back and forth with his face in his hands as charges were laid against him.

He also appeared to be wearing an anti-stab vest.

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Four women and one man also died when the SUV sped down the parade route in Waukesha, Wisconsin on Sunday.

More than 60 people were also injured, including many children, and some are still in a critical condition.

Witnesses said Brooks appeared to be intentionally moving side to side to hit people with no attempt to slow down, according to the criminal complaint.

A police officer shot at the car and hit it three times, the complaint added, while a detective also stepped in front and pounded on the bonnet – but Brooks drove past him.

The adults who died were Virginia Sorenson, 79, LeAnna Owen, 71, Tamara Durand, 52, Jane Kulich, 52, and Wilhelm Hospel, 81.

Brooks was charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide at the court in Waukesha.

Prosecutors said more charges were pending after revealing that a child had become the sixth fatality.

Police Chief Dan Thompson said on Monday that Brooks had left the scene of a domestic dispute minutes before he drove into the parade.

He said the incident was not being treated as terrorism.

Brooks, from Milwaukee, has been freed on a $1,000 bail earlier in November in a case in which he’s accused of deliberately hitting a woman with a car.

Prosecutors are looking into the circumstances after calling the bail amount “inappropriately low”.