Tag: Orleans

A suspect who was “hell-bent” on killing as many people as possible drove a rented pickup truck around barricades and plowed his vehicle through a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans at a high rate of speed, leaving at least 10 dead and injuring dozens of others early Wednesday, city and federal officials said.

After mowing down numerous people over a three-block stretch on the famed thoroughfare while firing shots into the crowd, the suspect allegedly got out of the truck wielding an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, law enforcement officials briefed on the incident told ABC News. Officers returned fire, killing the suspect who was not immediately identified, sources said. At least two police officers were shot and wounded, authorities said.

Improvised explosive devices found in and around the scene on Bourbon Street were apparently found to be viable and investigators were looking for more in the city’s French Quarter, multiple law enforcement sources tell ABC News.

Investigators are working to determine whether the deceased suspect entered the country recently and whether he had a connection to ISIS, law enforcement sources told ABC News. It appears that the truck the suspect rented was spotted in Texas on Tuesday, but it was not clear if the suspect was in the vehicle at the time, according to a source citing preliminary law enforcement information.

Jason Williams, the district attorney of Orleans Parrish, which includes New Orleans, told ABC News that investigators are conducting a grid search to determine if other explosive devices were planted. He also said investigators are probing whether the suspect acted alone or had help from others in planning and executing the attack.

Williams also said an investigation is underway on whether barricades along Bourbon Street were still up at the time of the attack.

Investigators have a possible name for the suspect they are working to confirm, sources told ABC News, adding it is a common name.

Investigated as terror attack

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the horrific incident a “terrorist attack” and the FBI said it was being investigated as an act of terror. The bloodshed comes on the heels of a deadly vehicle ramming attack in Germany. Fears of such attacks were a growing concern among law enforcement as well as attacks by lone actors at winter holiday events.

Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said the driver had attempted to kill as many people as possible. The truck used in the attack appeared to be a F-150 Lightning, an electric vehicle. A black flag appeared to be attached to the vehicle, but its significance was not immediately known.

By the time the melee had ended, at least 35 people were injured, New Orleans police and city officials said. Most of the victims appeared to be local, officials said.

“He was hell-bent on creating the carnage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said at a news conference early Wednesday.

The New Orleans Police Department said the attack occurred despite the force being “staffed 100%” for New Year’s Eve and the Sugar Bowl, a college football game played annually on New Year’s Day. An additional 300 officers were on duty from partner agencies, the police department said.

Despite discussions about canceling or postponing the Sugar Bowl, the game was expected to be played Wednesday evening, sources briefed said. Some events and parties around the game were canceled, however.

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the attack and has been in touch with Cantrell to offer support, according to the White House.

“I will continue to receive updates throughout the day, and I will have more to say as we have further information to share,” Biden said in a statement. “In the meantime, my heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday. There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”

President-elect Donald Trump posted a statement on his Truth Social platform, saying, 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!”

Local authorities asked the FBI for assistance early on Wednesday, a senior federal law enforcement source told ABC News. A command center was being set up, the source said. The FBI was set to lead the investigation.

‘Horrific act of violence’

“A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning,” Gov. Jeff Landry said, adding that his family was praying for the victims and first responders.

Witness Dan McFee said he had just walked out of his hotel to get an Uber and was standing on Canal Street near Bourbon Street, when he heard squealing tires and turned to see the white pickup truck turning right on Bourbon Street and heading right toward him and a female friend.

He said he grabbed his friend and pulled her out of the way as the truck sped by. McFee said he was struck either by the vehicle or debris and that he and his friend were knocked in the air and landed on the sidewalk. Moments later, he said he heard gunshots.

Asked if he saw the driver’s face, McFee said, “All I could remember, and it’s replaying in my head, is seeing the front of the truck coming at us.”

McFee said he and his friend suffered bumps and bruises in the incident.

Witness Jimmy Cothran of New Orleans told ABC News that he and a friend were walking on Bourbon Street when the truck attack began. He said they ducked into a bar and within minutes, four frantic women pushed through security, rushed into the bar and hid under tables.

“When we got on the balcony, what we saw was insanity,” Cothran, a certified emergency medical technician, said. “I mean it was something out of a movie, the graphic nature of it. It was unbelievable. We instantly counted I’d saw 10 bodies, six clearly graphically deceased and the others yelling with one around. Everyone had just cleared the street completely.”

Cothran said he tried to go out and help the injured but was stopped by security.

Another witness, who requested to be identified only as Paul S., told ABC News he was startled awake by the sound of what he initially thought was fireworks.

“Around 3:15 [a.m.], we heard a ‘pop, pop, pop, pop’ sound followed by a sound that sounded like fireworks going off, like big fireworks all at once,” Paul S. said. “Then it turned out that was the crash.”

He said he looked outside his hotel window, he saw a chaotic scene with bodies strewn on the street below.

“What I was was if you can imagine a street with brick and whatnot littered all around the sidewalk, and then there were bodies laid up next to garbage cans and people rushing to give aid,” Paul S. said.

He said he observed a man who had been thrown from his wheelchair lying on the ground next to the truck involved in in the attack writhing in pain.

“There was also a body underneath a scissor lift,” Paul S. said.

Truck rented through app

The Ford F-150 Lightning truck used in the attack was apparently rented through the Turo app — a car sharing company, according to Rodrigo Diaz, the owner of the truck. Diaz told ABC News he rented the truck to an individual through the app and is currently talking to the FBI. He declined further comment.

Diaz wife, Dora Diaz, told ABC News that she and her husband are devastated by the incident.

“My husband rents cars through the Turo app. I can’t tell you anything else. I’m here with my kids, and this is devastating,” Dora Diaz said.

Preliminary information put together by law enforcement indicates the truck apparently involved in the New Orleans attack was observed Tuesday in north Harris County, Texas, a source briefed on the investigation told ABC Houston station KTRK. The truck was seen in Harris County around 10:15 a.m. and again 11:10 a.m., the source said. Just after noon on Tuesday, the truck was spotted in Baytown, Texas, heading east on Interstate 10 in the direction of New Orleans, according to the source.

Law enforcement has not said whether the suspected attacker was in the vehicle when it was spotted in Texas.

Deploying ‘every available resource

Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed the FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism. He said the the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana are working with local law enforcement and “will deploy every available resource to conduct this investigation.”

“The country woke up this morning to news of a terrible tragedy in New Orleans that killed at least 10 people and injured many more,” Garland said in a statement. “My heart is broken for those who began their year by learning people they love were killed in this horrific attack, and my prayers are with the dozens who were injured, including the New Orleans Police Department Officers who risked their lives to save others.”

Leading up to the holidays, federal law enforcement and intelligence had warned police around the country that low-tech vehicle ramming was a key area of concern and that they needed to prepare — and that was before the German Christmas market attack on Dec. 20, in which five people were killed and hundreds were injured.

In a Dec. 9 assessment for the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration, federal and local agencies wrote: “We remain concerned about the use of vehicle ramming against high-profile outdoor events…Vehicle ramming has become a recurring tactic employed by threat actors in the West, marked by a continued interest by (terrorists, extremists) and lone offenders in targeting crowded pedestrian areas.”

“There are 30 injured patients that have been transported by NOEMS and 10 fatalities,” the city said, using an acronym for the New Orleans Emergency Medical Services.

The police later said at least 35 people were injured and taken to five local hospitals — University Medical Center, Touro Hospital, East Jefferson General Hospital, Ochsner Medical Center Jefferson Campus and Ochsner Baptist Campus.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.