An armed man drove a speeding truck into a New Year’s Eve [NYE] celebration on Bourbon Street in New Orleans’ French Quarter early Wednesday, killing at least 10 and injuring more than 30 before being shot and killed by police in what the FBI is calling a terrorist assault.
“We are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism,” the FBI said in a late-morning statement.
The pick-up truck crashed into the crowd at high speed around 3:15 a.m. and within moments the driver started firing on police officers from inside the vehicle, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said. Two officers were shot and are now being treated in stable condition.
Police confirmed with USA TODAY that the driver was fatally shot by police. “Perpetrator was shot by NOPD officers and killed,” said Karen Boudrie, public relations specialist with New Orleans police.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell told reporters that the driver was on a mission to kill as many people as possible. “He was hell bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did . . . This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could. It was not a DUI situation,” Cantrell said.
Hundreds of police officers were in the city for New Year’s Eve duty when the assault happened, Cantrell said. The driver of the truck swerved around barricades on his way into the crowd, she said.
“Last night, we had over 300 officers out here, and because of the intentional mindset of this perpetrator who went around our barricades in order to conduct this,” the mayor said.
Alethea Duncan, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans office, said that “an improvised explosive device was found” and the FBI is working to determine whether “it’s a viable device or not.”
Sugar Bowl, Mardi Gras, Super Bowl security
Bourbon Street is a nightlife hub that draws thousands for New Year’s Eve celebrations in New Orleans. The city is also due to host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Georgia Bulldogs today in the Sugar Bowl, a classic college football playoff quarterfinals annual match at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The Sugar Bowl New Year’s parade took place Tuesday afternoon in the same area as the crash.
Bill Cassidy, republican U.S. senator in Louisiana, said the Sugar Bowl game will be played.
“Extremely confident,” Cassidy told CNN on Wednesday when asked if the Sugar Bowl would be played later in the evening. “The standard operating procedure for a big game like the Sugar Bowl, for a Saints game, for the Super Bowl is to go through the building, make sure there’s nothing there that’s wrong, and then to lock it down. The Sugar Bowl, the Super Dome has been locked down. There is going to be no problem there.”
Super Bowl LIX will be held in New Orleans on Feb 9. The city is also set on January 6 to launch the official start of the Mardi Gras season, according to the city’s Mardi Gras website.
Biden briefed on attack; Trump responds
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the attack, according to the White House.
The president “has been briefed on the horrific news that a driver killed and injured dozens of individuals in New Orleans overnight and the White House has been in touch with New Orleans Mayor (LaToya) Cantrell to offer support,” the White House said in a statement. “The FBI is already on the ground supporting local law enforcement in the investigation and the President will continue to be briefed throughout the day.”
President-elect Donald Trump, on his Truth Social platform, called the attack “pure evil.”
“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true,” Trump said. “The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said on social media that those responsible for the attack will be brought to justice.
“Many of us woke up this morning to devastating news of the brutal intentional slaughter of innocent people celebrating the New Year in New Orleans,” Murrill said. “I’m praying for the victims and their families and will ensure they get justice for this appalling act.”
NOLA Ready, the city’s official disaster preparedness agency, confirmed there was a “mass casualty incident involving a vehicle that drove into a large crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street.”
It said there were 30 injured patients who had been transported by New Orleans Emergency Medical Services, with 10 fatalities, adding: “Public safety partners are responding on scene.”
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry confirmed on X that “a horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning” and urged people to pray for victims. He also asked citizens to avoid the area.
Security addressed for other college bowl games
The Sugar Bowl is one of the oldest bowl games in the country, along with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl.
“The Sugar Bowl is huge. Lots of people will be watching,” Juliette Kayyem, a former top U.S. Department of Homeland Security official, told CNN. “It should go on. The police department has lots of resources to draw on. It can protect the investigation and also draw on other local and state resources to protect people going to the bowl.”
She added: “This is the way that big cities have to work. Unfortunately, we want to provide what might even be security theater at this stage, lots and lots of law enforcement presence to make the city and people attending understand that they are safe, to stop anyone who might want to copycat at this stage, and then you let the investigation and the mourning continue simultaneously. It’s just the nature of how these things happen is that you have both these horrible incidences, and then you have to prepare for the next big event. And this is when we’ve seen in prior instances as well.”
Officials in Pasadena, California, where the prestigious Rose Bowl is set to kickoff this afternoon, expressed their condolences for New Orleans. According to the Pasadena Now news site, officials are planning to move ahead with today’s game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oregon Ducks. They reassured the public about Rose Parade security.
“The Tournament of Roses and the City of Pasadena extend our deepest sympathies to the people of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans following this morning’s tragic events,” the statement read. “We stand in solidarity with the entire state during this difficult time.”
It added, “The City of Pasadena undergoes months of preparations leading up to the Parade and Game in coordination with our Federal, State, County and Local partners. We continually train throughout the year with our Tournament of Roses and Rose Bowl Stadium partners for various scenarios . . . The Parade is a top-level Federal event and we have to ability to call in additional resources if the need exists.”
The University of Georgia also expressed solidarity with the city of New Orleans and said it is working to determine if any of its students or faculty were among the victims of Wednesday’s attack.
“We are horrified and saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred in the early hours of New Year’s Day in New Orleans,” the University of Georgia said in post on X. “University personnel are working to determine if any UGA students, faculty, staff, alumni, or fans were among the victims. We offer our deepest condolences to all the victims and their families, and we stand in solidarity with the New Orleans community.”
New Orleans police said they’ll be ready for upcoming events. The department is deploying resources at a level like other recent major events, such as the Taylor Swift concert. NOPD will work alongside local, state, and federal partners to provide extensive security coverage across the city. [USA TODAY]
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