NEW ORLEANS – Not less than 10 individuals had been killed and greater than 30 injured in New Orleans after a person driving a pickup truck plowed into a big crowd of individuals celebrating the brand new 12 months within the famed Bourbon Avenue space, authorities mentioned.
New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick referred to the incident as “very intentional habits” throughout a press convention early Wednesday, saying the suspect was “making an attempt to run over as many individuals as he might.”
Emergency automobiles are pictured on the scene on Jan. 1, 2025. (Credit score: FOX 8 WVUE-TV)
Ten individuals had been killed, and at the least 35 had been injured and brought to native hospitals, Kirkpatrick mentioned. The standing of the suspect remained unclear.
The incident got here towards the top of New Yr’s celebrations in New Orleans and hours earlier than the kickoff of the AllState Bowl, a university soccer quarterfinal held within the metropolis’s Caesars Superdome, with hundreds anticipated to be in attendance.
This is what we all know:
What occurred on New Orleans’ Bourbon Avenue?
BREAKING: 10 useless after New Orleans incident
Not less than 10 individuals had been killed and 30 injured in New Orleans after a automobile drove into a big crowd of individuals celebrating the brand new 12 months on the famed Bourbon Avenue, authorities mentioned.
New Orleans police mentioned the incident occurred round 3:15 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
After the truck plowed into the group, the suspect crashed and fired on cops from his automobile, Kirkpatrick advised reporters. Two officers had been shot and described as “secure.”
The police chief mentioned the suspect was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and injury that he did.”
NOLA Prepared, the town’s emergency preparedness company, earlier described the scene as a “mass casualty incident.”
“The eighth District is at present working a mass casualty incident involving a automobile that drove into a big crowd on Canal and Bourbon Avenue,” NOLA Prepared, the town’s emergency preparedness company, mentioned on its web site.
FBI: Suspected improvised explosive gadget discovered
The FBI has taken over the investigation and requested the general public to keep away from Bourbon Avenue between Canal to St Ann streets.
Alethea Duncan, an assistant particular agent in command of the FBI’s New Orleans discipline workplace, mentioned officers had been investigating the invention of at the least one suspected improvised explosive gadget on the scene.
In the course of the Wednesday morning briefing, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell declared the incident a “terrorist assault,” however Duncan appeared to contradict her quickly afterward, saying that had not been confirmed.
Officers declined to reply questions in the course of the morning press convention. A extra detailed media briefing was scheduled for 11 a.m. ET Wednesday.
“A horrific act of violence came about on Bourbon Avenue earlier this morning,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry wrote on social media. “Please be a part of Sharon and I in praying for all of the victims and first responders on scene.”
Landry additionally urged “all close to the scene to keep away from the realm.”
The Supply: This story was written based mostly on data shared by NOLA Prepared, the town’s emergency preparedness company, and the New Orleans Police Division and FBI on Jan. 1, 2025. It was reported from Cincinnati, and the Related Press contributed.
