Suspect in truck attack is reportedly dead
The suspect in the New Orleans truck crash that killed 10 people and injured 30 revelers in New Orleans on New Year’s Day was killed after a firefight with police, law enforcement officials told the Associated Press.
The officials were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity
Key events
The driver of the pickup truck was shot dead after exchanging gunfire with police, a senior law enforcement source briefed on the attack has told the Guardian.
The source said the driver was equipped with a rifle, a helmet and body armor.
Meanwhile here is a video report that the Guardian has published.
FBI now says event an ‘act of terrorism’
Following confusion from different branches of the authorities who’ve been discussing the fatal attack on the public in New Orleans in the early hours of New Year’s Day, there is now a clearer line.
The FBI has just said it is investigating the tragedy “as an act of terrorism”, Reuters now reports.
Also, several media outlets and local political leaders are saying the suspect in the attack is dead. We’ll bring you more details as they emerge and are confirmed.
Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, the police commissioner of New Orleans, said a little earlier about the suspect: “This man was trying to run over as many people as he could. He was hell bent on creating the carnage and damage that he did.”
She said it was not “a DUI thing”, ie it was not a case of a drunken driver, aka Driving Under the Influence in the legal sense, careening down the street and into people by mistake.
Eyewitnesses have said that the suspect was also shooting at people while still sitting in his pick-up truck, including on police officers.
There is a disagreement between authorities at the moment as to whether this should be classified as a terrorist attack.
The AP reports that at the news conference earlier, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the killings as a “terrorist attack”, but an assistant FBI agent in charge declared that is was “not a terrorist event.”
The news conference ended before authorities could reconcile the two characterizations. This will probably be clarified at the next press conference, due in about 90 minutes.
Suspect in truck attack is reportedly dead
The suspect in the New Orleans truck crash that killed 10 people and injured 30 revelers in New Orleans on New Year’s Day was killed after a firefight with police, law enforcement officials told the Associated Press.
The officials were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity
Joe Biden has been briefed on the tragedy in New Orleans earlier today.
The White House said the US president had been informed of the tragedy, as has the US attorney general, Merrick Garland.
The New Year’s Day attack occurred around 3.15am local time along Bourbon Street, known worldwide as one of the largest destinations for New Year’s Eve parties, the Associated Press reports.
Crowds were also ballooning in the city in anticipation for the Sugar Bowl college football playoff game at the nearby Superdome stadium later in the day.
Readers worldwide will remember the Superdome as the place where thousands took refuge after Hurricane Katrina decimated parts of New Orleans in the late summer of 2005.
Oliver Laughland
At the intersection of Bourbon St and Canal St, usually a bustling tourist hub, dozens of city police cars lined the streets. Yellow police tape was wrapped around the main drag and three white vans from the parish coroner’s office were parked parallel, near to where the attack took place.
There are now reports of federal bomb squads detonating improvised explosive devices in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Information and witness reports are now coming in thick and fast, as routinely happens as the account of an incident unfolds.
We will treat the news that there were improvised bombs on Bourbon Street very cautiously.
CNN has now said it has confirmed that the suspect in the “mass casualty event” is dead. There will be another press conference held by the authorities in New Orleans at 11am ET.
Attacker ‘hell-bent’ on carnage, say police, amid reports suspect now dead
The New Orleans police say the attack on the public in the early hours was clearly intentional.
He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did. It was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” said the city police superintendent, Anne Kirkpatrick.
Two police officers who were shot after the driver emerged from the truck are in stable condition, she said, reported the Associated Press.
Officials did not immediately provide an update on the status of the driver, whether there was an ongoing threat to the public or offer a suspected motive in the fatal incident.
But CNN has been reporting, citing unnamed sources, that the suspect has been killed.
The incident occurred in a busy nightlife area of New Orleans’s French Quarter. Police urged people to stay away from the area. “We do not want anyone on Bourbon Street today,” police superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said in a press conference Wednesday morning, confirming that the FBI is taking over the investigation.
New Orleans mayor calls incident a ‘terrorist attack’
Mayor Cantrell has described today’s mass casualty incident as a “terrorist attack”.
In addition, it was announced the FBI is now taking over the investigation.
Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said officials were investigating the discovery of at least one suspected improvised explosive device at the scene.
We’ve been hearing from the New Orleans mayor, LaToya Cantrell, and the police superintendent, Anne Kirkpatrick, at a press conference.
We’ll bring you the main lines from both and any further details on the incident as soon as we can.
Louisiana governor condemns ‘horrific act of violence’
Jeff Landry, governor of Louisiana, has also posted on X today in the wake of the incident in Bourbon Street.
We’ve been reporting accounts from eyewitnesses who said the area was filled with New Year party revellers.
“A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning,” Governor Landry said.
“Please join Sharon and I in praying for all the victims and first responders on scene.
“I urge all near the scene to avoid the area.”
More details of what happened in Bourbon Street are beginning to emerge.
According to reports on the ground from US network CBS, the white truck crashed into the victims at high speed while they were celebrating the New Year.
The driver, according to witnesses who spoke to CBS, then got out and began firing a weapon. Police then returned fire.
More now from New Orleans, which confirms 30 people have been injured and at least 10 killed.
The casualties have been transported to the following hospitals:
-
University medical center
-
Touro hospital
-
East Jefferson general hospital
-
Ochsner Medical Center Jefferson Campus
-
Ochsner Baptist Campus
Emergency response team warns people to stay away
Nola Ready, the city’s emergency preparedness team, has described today’s reported crash as a “mass casualty incident”.
Posting on X today, they have warned people to stay away from Canal and Bourbon Street while teams respond on scene.
The nature of injuries and the number of dead are unknown at this time, police have said.
At least 10 reported dead after vehicle driven into crowd
We know that at least 10 people are reported to have been killed after a vehicle drove into a crowd in New Orleans’ French Quarter early on Wednesday.
The incident came toward the end of New Year’s celebrations in New Orleans and hours before the kickoff of the AllState Bowl, a college football quarterfinal held in the city’s Caesars Superdome, with thousands expected to be in attendance.
A further 30 people are said to have been injured in the incident on Bourbon Street.
