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At least 10 people have been killed and 35 injured after a man drove a pickup truck into a large crowd in the heart of New Orleans in what the FBI is investigating as an “act of terrorism.”
The attack happened early on New Year’s Day on Bourbon Street in Louisiana’s largest city, one of the main streets in the historic French Quarter, which is lined with bars, restaurants and music venues and attracts local and foreign visitors.
New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said that around 3:15 a.m. local time, a man was driving a pickup truck down Bourbon Street “very fast.”
“It was very deliberate behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” Kirkpatrick added. “He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and damage he did.”
Kirkpatrick said two officers were shot by the driver and are in stable condition. The FBI later released a statement saying the attacker was dead.
“This morning, a person drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing a large number of people and injuring dozens of others. The subject then made contact with local law enforcement and is now deceased,” the FBI said. “The FBI is the lead investigative agency and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism,” it added.
LaToya Cantrell, Mayor New Orleans, he said the city had been hit by a “terrorist attack”, without giving further details.
“What I’m asking for at this time is prayers for those who lost their lives in the city of New Orleans because of this tragedy,” she said.
In a statement, US President Joe Biden said he had been “continuously briefed since early this morning by federal law enforcement leaders and my homeland security team.”
Biden said he directed officials to “ensure that all resources are available as federal, state and local law enforcement work diligently to get to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible and to ensure that there is no longer a threat of any kind.”
President-elect Donald Trump described the incident as an “act of pure evil” in a statement on his media platform Truth Social and said his new administration will “fully support the city of New Orleans as it investigates and recovers” from the attack.
Alethea Duncan, assistant special agent for the FBI in New Orleans, told reporters that an improvised explosive device was found at the scene of the attack. The FBI was working to confirm whether the device was “viable,” Duncan said.
New Orleans is often bustling with visitors during the holiday season, but the city was especially packed on New Year’s Eve this year because of the Sugar Bowl game scheduled for Wednesday between the University of Georgia and the University of Notre Dame.
The sporting event was expected to go ahead as planned despite the attack, but local officials asked people to avoid the area where it took place.
