At least ten (10) people have been killed and more than thirty (30) left with various degrees of injury in New Orleans after a car drove into a crowd during New Year’s celebrations.
 |
| A driver drove a pickup truck through a crowd in city New Orleans during new year celebrations, killing at least 10. Photo: theguardian.com |
Via a statement on its website, the city of New Orleans confirmed the “mass casualty incident involving a vehicle that drove into a large crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street.”
The suspect opened fire and shot two (2) police officers after driving through the crowd; the officers are in stable condition at a local hospital.
A federal law enforcement official disclosed to NBC News, that the suspect is believed to be dead, though no official report has been released.
At a news conference, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said, “We do know that the city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack.”
Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, Anne Kirkpatrick, said the suspect, who drove a pickup truck, traveled down Bourbon Street with the intent of causing mass casualties.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could. It was not a DUI situation,” she said.
Multiple suspected improvised explosive devices linked to the attack are being investigated by authorities.
