The first day of 2025 was painted with blood on . At least when a van plowed into a crowd of people at Canal and Bourbon streets in New Orleans’ French Quarter early this morning (local time). The suspect in the attack is dead, a federal official told CNN.
Most of the injured were local residents, not visitors, the city’s police chief said, and they were taken to at least five different hospitals, according to NOLA Emergency Management.
Investigators are confident the person driving the vehicle did not accidentally drive into the crowd, but intended to kill, the New Orleans police chief said, according to CNN.
“This was a man driving a farm truck on Bourbon Street at a very fast rate and it was very deliberate behavior. He was furiously determined to cause carnage,” said Police Inspector Anne Kirkpatrick. “This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” he said, adding: “This was not a drink-driving situation. What happened was more complicated and more serious based on the information we have at this time,” he added.
As it became known from the Police, two policemen were wounded by bullets during the attack. Kirkpatrick said more than 300 police officers were on duty at the time of the attack and that the FBI would be investigating the incident.
“We know that the city of New Orleans has been affected by a terrorist attack,” said New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. A short time later an FBI agent told reporters that “this is not a terrorist incident.”
Video shows that the is done on the who killed 12 people in attack in
— War Insights (@warinsights4you)
The testimonies
Eyewitnesses described the New Year’s Eve revelry turning into horror when the vehicle plowed into the crowd.
“All I saw was a truck running into everybody on the left side of Bourbon Street,” 22-year-old Kevin Garcia told CNN shortly after the incident. “A body fell on top of me,” he said, adding that he also heard gunshots.
Another witness, 22-year-old Whit Davis of Shreveport, Louisiana, told CNN the incident happened while he was leaving a nightclub on Bourbon Street.
“Everybody started yelling and screaming and running back and then we basically got locked down for a while and then they calmed down but wouldn’t let us go,” Davis said. “When they finally let us out of the club, the police were pointing us where to walk and telling us to leave the area quickly. I saw some dead bodies and people receiving first aid.” Police told people at the scene to put down their phones and leave as soon as possible, Davis said.
Explosive devices were found
As the investigation into the attack continues, federal police agents are also checking the scene for possible improvised explosive devices.
“There were improvised explosive devices that were found and we are working to confirm whether or not it was a viable device,” said Alethea Duncan, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans office.
Duncan declined to respond to reporters’ requests for more details on how many suspicious mechanisms they are looking at. Video from CNN affiliate WDSU showed a police robot being used to examine the underside of the vehicle.
The first photo of the truck
First look at the vehicle used to mow down New Year revellers in New Orleans.
— Robert Abel (@rj_abel)
