An armed man drove a speeding truck into a New Year’s Eve 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 statement.
The pick-up truck crashed into the crowd at high speed around 3:15 a.m. CST and within moments the driver started firing on police officers from inside the vehicle, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said. Three officers returned fire; two were shot and are being treated in stable condition.
The suspect in the attack has been preliminary identified by the FBI as Shamsud Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen and Army veteran who lived in Texas. Jabbar appeared to be carrying an ISIS flag and was dressed in military gear, the FBI said.
“An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations,” the FBI statement said.
Later Wednesday, FBI special agent Alethea Duncan told reporters the ISIS flag was hanging from the truck trailer’s hitch. She also said the bureau does not believe Jabbar was “solely responsible” for the attack.
Sugar Bowl postponed for 24 hours; 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 was also due to host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the University of Georgia Bulldogs Wednesday night in the Sugar Bowl, but the classic college football playoff quarterfinals annual match was postponed 24 hours until Thursday at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans due to the attack.
Authorities said Wednesday afternoon that the popular Bourbon Street corridor will remain closed because it’s an “active crime scene,” Cantrell said.
Biden briefed on the attack; Trump responds
President Joe Biden, who traveled from his home in Wilmington, Del., to Camp David in Maryland on Wednesday, issued a statement noting that he is being continually briefed by federal law enforcement leadership and the Department of Homeland Security.
Biden added that the attack was being investigated as an “act of terrorism.”
“I am grateful for the brave and swift response of local law enforcement in preventing even greater death and injury,” the president said in the statement. “I have directed my team to ensure every resource is available as federal, state, and local law enforcement work assiduously to get to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible and to ensure that there is no remaining threat of any kind.”
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 the 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.”
Details on Wednesday’s attack emerged almost instantly on social media. NOLA Ready, the city’s official disaster preparedness agency, confirmed before 6 a.m. CST that there had been 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.”