Ten people were killed and 30 injured after a vehicle plowed into a crowd in New Orleans’ tourist district in the early hours of New Year’s Day, officials said. Media reported that the driver later fired a gun.
The city’s emergency preparedness office, Nola Ready, released a statement about a “mass casualty incident involving a vehicle that drove into a large crowd at Canal and Bourbon Street.” The area is part of the city’s French Quarter, a popular nightlife destination.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has said the city has been “struck by a terrorist attack” and that the incident remains under investigation, according to CNN.
New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said at a news conference Wednesday morning: “It was very deliberate behavior. This man tried to run over as many people as he could. He was determined to cause the carnage and damage he caused.”
CBS News and CNN cited witnesses who reported that the driver also fired a gun.
Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said officials were investigating the discovery of at least one suspected improvised explosive device at the scene.
People are advised to stay away from the area from Bourbon Street to St Ann. “We don’t want anyone on Bourbon Street today,” Police Chief Kirkpatrick said, confirming that the FBI is taking over the investigation.
The police chief said two police officers had been shot and were in stable condition at an area hospital. No information has been released about the suspect. The police chief said most of the injured are believed to be locals and not tourists.
As the sun began to rise over the city on New Year’s Day, police from a number of agencies had swarmed the city’s French Quarter. Much of Bourbon Street was closed off while police checked the area for secondary devices.
One resident, who did not want to be named, was sleeping in their nearby home when the attacks began and told the security guard he woke up to “screams of terror” and shouts of “no!”
CBS said one of its reporters, Kati Weis, saw people with injuries on the ground. It said witnesses told her the driver of the vehicle fired a gun and police returned fire.
CBS News quoted a New Orleans Police Department spokesperson as saying that “initial reports indicate a car may have driven into a group of people.”
CNN quoted a witness, Kevin Garcia, 22, as saying, “All I saw was a truck crashing into everyone on the left side of Bourbon’s sidewalk.
“A body came flying towards me,” he said, adding that he also heard gunshots.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry called the incident “a heinous act of violence” and urged people to avoid the area in a post on X.
New Orleans is preparing for the Sugar Bowl, a major college football game between the University of Georgia and the University of Notre Dame, on Wednesday evening. The city hosted a parade ahead of the game on Tuesday, and according to CNN, the New Orleans Police Department said it would be “100%” staffed during the festivities.
