A driver crashed his truck right into a crowd at excessive pace in New Orleans’ French Quarter within the wee hours of New 12 months’s Day then opened hearth, killing a minimum of 10 individuals and injuring greater than 35, metropolis officers and police stated.
“This man was making an attempt to run over as many individuals as he may,” Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick stated at a televised press convention on Wednesday. “He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the harm that he did.”
The incident at 3.15am native time (11.15am Cyprus time) occurred on the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Streets throughout New 12 months’s celebrations, town stated in an announcement. Bourbon Road is a historic vacationer vacation spot within the metropolis’s French Quarter, recognized for attracting massive crowds with its music and bars.
Kirkpatrick stated the motive force fired at police and struck two law enforcement officials from the automobile after it crashed. The officers are in steady situation, she added.
She stated greater than 300 officers have been on obligation on the time of the incident. Town hosts the Sugar Bowl, a traditional American school soccer sport, every New 12 months’s Day.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell referred to as the occasion a “terrorist assault” however was contradicted by an FBI official.
Alethea Duncan, an assistant particular agent in control of the FBI’s New Orleans subject workplace, stated: “This isn’t a terrorist occasion.” Duncan stated a suspected improvised explosive gadget was discovered and the FBI was working to find out if it was viable.
Verified video taken by an onlooker exhibits a minimum of two twisted our bodies on the street, with one among them mendacity in what seems to be a puddle of blood. A bystander is seen kneeling over one of many our bodies as a bunch of uniformed army personnel in inexperienced uniforms and carrying firearms runs previous.
“A horrific act of violence came about on Bourbon Road earlier this morning,” Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry stated on X, the social media platform higher often known as Twitter, urging individuals to steer clear of the world the place the assault came about.
The injured have been taken to a minimum of 5 completely different hospitals, in accordance with Nola Prepared, town’s emergency preparedness division.
President Joe Biden’s White Home stated it had been in contact with the mayor to supply assist.
A pair advised CBS Information that they heard crashing noises coming from down the road after which noticed a white truck slam by a barricade “at a excessive fee of pace”.
New Orleans has skilled shootings and automobiles colliding with crowds at previous parades.
In November 2024, two individuals have been killed and 10 injured in two separate shootings alongside a New Orleans parade route and celebration attended by hundreds, native media reported.
In February 2017, a person who police stated seemed to be extremely intoxicated plowed a pickup truck right into a crowd of spectators watching the principle Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, injuring greater than 20 individuals.
