A person deliberately drove a pickup truck right into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Road in New Orleans’ French Quarter early on New 12 months’s Day, killing 10 folks and injuring dozens of others, officers stated. The FBI stated the motive force was killed in a firefight with police.
New Orleans Police Division Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick stated the person drove round barricades and hurtled down Bourbon Road in “very intentional conduct” earlier than opening hearth on officers.
The driving force died after exchanging gunfire with responding cops, the FBI stated. The suspect was struck by police hearth and declared lifeless on the scene, the New Orleans Police Division said.
“This man was attempting to run over as many individuals as he might,” stated Kirkpatrick, including that two cops had been hit by gunfire however had been in a steady situation. An extended gun was recovered from the scene, legislation enforcement sources informed CBS News.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell referred to it as a possible “terrorist assault,” and the FBI stated in a information launch that they’re investigating it “as an act of terrorism.”
Investigators are probing whether or not the suspect was linked to or impressed by a international terror group, legislation enforcement and metropolis official sources informed CBS News. Potential explosive units recovered at or close to the scene are additionally being analyzed, the sources stated.
Gerald Herbert/AP
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry called it “a horrific act of violence” and stated he and his spouse had been “praying for all of the victims and first responders on scene.” He urged folks to keep away from the realm.
The favored vacationer district was stuffed with New 12 months’s Day revelers on the time of the obvious assault.
“He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the harm that he did,” Kirkpatrick stated.
Witnesses informed CBS News reporter Kati Weis {that a} white truck crashed into folks on Bourbon Road at excessive pace, and the motive force then began firing a weapon from contained in the automobile, with police returning hearth. Weis noticed a number of folks on the bottom being handled for accidents close to the intersection of Bourbon and Canal Streets.
The Metropolis of New Orleans stated in a statement posted online that 30 folks had been transported to space hospitals with accidents and 10 folks had been confirmed lifeless. Kirkpatrick later stated that at the least 35 folks had been hospitalized.
Duncan stated the FBI will likely be main the investigation. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Justice Division’s Nationwide Safety Division and the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Jap District of Louisiana will work with the FBI and native officers to assist the investigation, Legal professional Normal Merrick Garland stated. President Biden was briefed in regards to the assault, the White Home stated, and his administration has been in contact with Cantrell to supply assist.
“Our hearts are with all the harmless victims and their family members, together with the courageous officers of the New Orleans Police Division,” President-elect Donald Trump stated on TruthSocial.
The Sugar Bowl school soccer playoff sport is scheduled to be performed on the close by Superdome later within the day. Kirkpatrick stated cops would work to make sure security on the occasion, indicating that the sport would go on as deliberate.
The Sugar Bowl Committee stated in an announcement that it’s “devastated by the horrible occasions from early this morning,” and stated that it’s in ongoing discussions with authorities.
Jim and Nicole Mowrer had been in New Orleans visiting from Iowa and witnessed the incident. The couple told CBS News that they had watched the town’s fireworks show and had been having fun with the New 12 months’s Day environment within the French Quarter once they heard crashing noises coming from down the road. They stated they then noticed a white truck slam by a barricade “at a excessive price of pace,” adopted by gunfire and police. The couple stated the truck hit folks a couple of block away from the place that they had been strolling.
“As soon as the gunfire stopped, we stayed within the alcove till the gunfire stopped, got here out into the road, and got here throughout loads of — a number of individuals who had been hit, [we] needed to see what we might do to assist,” Nicole Mowrer stated. She stated the couple discovered the victims had died.
The Mowrers stated the victims they noticed had accidents from the truck impression, and they didn’t see any obvious gunshot wounds. They stated they left the realm as soon as emergency responders began arriving.
In a 2017 memo reviewed by CBS News, the town of New Orleans had acknowledged the danger of a mass casualty incident within the crowded, tourist-friendly French Quarter. The memo particularly referenced automobile assaults in Nice, France, London, England and New York City. To reduce danger, the town stated it deliberate to determine a digicam and surveillance program, a centralized command middle, extra police patrols and infrastructure upgrades. The town had been within the means of upgrading the pedestrian bollard system within the French Quarter to modernize and bolster protections, with work ongoing by February.