A driver crashed his pickup truck into a crowd in New Orleans celebrating New Year’s Day and opened fire, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 35, in an attack the FBI said it was investigating as an act of terrorism. .
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said in a televised news conference Wednesday. “He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage he caused.”
The incident at 2:15 p.m. local time (9:15 a.m. GMT) occurred at the intersection of Canal and Bourbon streets during New Year’s celebrations, the city said in a statement. Bourbon Street is a historic tourist destination in the city’s French Quarter, known for drawing large crowds with its music and bars.
Kirkpatrick said the driver fired at police and hit two officers in the vehicle after it crashed. The officers are in stable condition, he added. The driver died after the shootout with police, authorities said.
“We know the perpetrator has been murdered,” said New Orleans City Councilman Oliver Thomas. “As we search for a motive, remember that evil is meaningless.”
There was no immediate information on the identity of the driver.
More than 300 officers were on duty at the time of the incident, police said. The city hosts the Sugar Bowl, a classic college football game, every New Year’s Day, and will also host the NFL Super Bowl on February 9.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell called the incident a “terrorist attack.”
Alethea Duncan, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said, “This is not a terrorist event.” The FBI later said in a statement that “we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism.”
Duncan said a suspected improvised explosive device was found and the FBI was working to determine if it was viable.
Verified video taken by a bystander shows at least two bodies twisted in the street, one of them lying in what appears to be a pool of blood. A passerby is seen kneeling over one of the bodies while a group of uniformed soldiers wearing green uniforms and carrying firearms run by.
President Joe Biden was informed about the attack and the White House contacted the mayor to offer support, the White House said in a statement.
a couple said CBS News that they heard crash noises coming from the street and then saw a white truck go through a barricade “at high speed.”
“A horrific act of violence took place this morning on Bourbon Street,” Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said on X, urging people to stay away from the area where the attack took place.
The injured have been taken to at least five different hospitals, according to NOLA Ready, the city’s emergency preparedness department.
The incident occurred at the intersection of Canal and Bourbon streets during New Year’s Eve celebrations, the New York Times reported.
a couple said CBS News that they heard crash noises coming from the street and then saw a white truck go through a barricade “at high speed.”
New Orleans has seen shootings and cars colliding with crowds at previous parades.
In November 2024, two people were killed and 10 others were wounded in two separate shootings along the route of a New Orleans parade and celebration attended by thousands of people, local media reported.
In February 2017, a van driven by a man who police said appeared to be very intoxicated crashed into a crowd of spectators watching the main Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, injuring more than 20 people.
