Ten are killed when a man wrecks a truck into a crowd in New Orleans and starts shooting

In the early hours of New Year’s Day, a motorist in New Orleans’ French Quarter crashed his truck into a crowd at high speed and then opened fire, leaving at least 10 people dead and over 35 injured, according to police and local officials.

Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick stated: “This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” during a press conference that was shown on television on Wednesday. “He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”

According to a statement from the city, the incident happened at 3:15 a.m. during New Year’s festivities at the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Streets. Located in the city’s French Quarter, Bourbon Street is a historic tourist magnet that draws sizable crowds because to its bars and music.

According to Kirkpatrick, after the car crashed, the driver hit two police officers and fired at them. She also stated that the cops’ status is steady.

At the time of the event, she stated, around 300 officers were on duty. Every New Year’s Day, the city hosts the Sugar Bowl, a traditional American college football event.

The action was referred to as a “terrorist attack” by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, however an FBI official denied this.

The FBI’s New Orleans field office’s associate special agent in charge, Alethea Duncan, stated: “This is not a terrorist event.” According to Duncan, the FBI was investigating the viability of a suspected improvised explosive device that was discovered.

An onlooker’s verified video captures at least two mangled bodies in the street, one of them laying in what looks to be a pool of blood. As a group of green-uniformed military troops with guns rush by, a spectator can be seen kneeling over one of the bodies.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry posted on X, “A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning,” and advised people to avoid the area where the attack occurred.

The city’s emergency preparedness department, NOLA Ready, reported that the injured were sent to at least five hospitals.

The White House of President Joe Biden claimed to have communicated with the mayor to provide its assistance.

A white truck crashed past a roadblock “at a high rate of speed” after a couple reported hearing smashing sounds coming from down the street, according to CBS News.

At previous parades, automobiles have crashed into people and gunshots have occurred in New Orleans.

According to local media, two individuals were murdered and ten injured in two different gunshots that occurred in November 2024 along a parade route and celebration in New Orleans that drew thousands of people.

More than 20 people were hurt when a man who police said seemed to be extremely drunk crashed a pickup truck into a gathering of people watching New Orleans’ biggest Mardi Gras parade in February 2017.