Agency Report
DAILY COURIER - At least 10 people have been killed and 30 injured when a vehicle ploughed into a crowd in a popular tourist district in the US city of New Orleans in Louisiana, city authorities said.
The FBI says it is investigating the crash in New Orleans’s French Quarter as an act of “terrorism”.
“The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism,” the FBI said in a statement posted on X.
US President Joe Biden has called New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell to offer “full federal support” after a deadly truck-ramming attack on iconic Bourbon Street that left at least 10 people dead.
Biden has been briefed by FBI and Homeland Security officials on what the White House called a “horrific” attack.
“The FBI is already on the ground supporting local law enforcement in the investigation, and the President will continue to be briefed throughout the day,” the statement added.
Driver shot and killed by police: Report
City and federal officials have told ABC News that the suspect was allegedly shot and killed by police when he got out of his truck with an assault rifle.
The officials said that alongside the truck driving at high speed, the driver was allegedly firing a gun as he rammed through the crowd.
There isn’t any definitive indication of what the motive is, but the FBI, which is now reportedly in charge of the investigation of this incident at the intersection of Bourbon and Canal Street in the French Quarter.
Apparently, FBI investigators have found a suspected IED (improvised explosive device) at the scene of this incident, where at least 10 people have been killed and at least 35 have been injured.
Now, this was a high-security situation given that it was New Year’s Eve celebration, this event happened around 3:15am local time (09:15 GMT) with more than 300 police officers on duty to basically deal with what you might expect among people who have been celebrating perhaps a little too vigorously.
It is worth noting that the mayor of New Orleans has called this a “terrorist” event, but there is no evidence supporting her statement at this time.
Suspected explosive device found in New Orleans attack: FBI
Investigators have found a suspected improvised explosive device at the scene of a deadly truck ramming in New Orleans, the FBI said.
“We are working on confirming if this is a viable device or not,” Special Agent Alethea Duncan told a news conference after the attack.
Two officers wounded in shooting with driver, says New Orleans police official
Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said that the driver shot and wounded two police officers during the crash that killed at least 10 people.
“This man, this perpetrator, he fired on our officers from his vehicle when he crashed his vehicle. Two of our officers have been shot. They are stable,” Kirkpatrick said.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said the man who drove the vehicle tried to “run over as many people as he possibly could”.
The driver “was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did”, Kirkpatrick told a news conference.
The city of New Orleans has previously experienced shootings and cars colliding with crowds during parade routes.
In November, local media reported that at least two people were killed and 10 others wounded in two separate shootings along a parade route that was attended by thousands.
In February 2017, a pickup truck driven by a man who the police said appeared to be highly intoxicated drove into a crowd of people watching the Mardi Gras parade, injuring more than 20 people.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
