A man who drove a pick-up truck into New Year’s revellers in New Orleans tried to “run over as many people as he possibly could”, US police say, in what the FBI is treating as a potential act of terrorism.
At least ten people had been killed and 30 more were injured after a truck ploughed into a group of people in the city’s famed Bourbon Street area, city officials said.
Emergency authorities said the incident took place at approximately 3:15am, local time, on New Year’s Day.
A couple told CBS News that they heard crashing noises coming from down the street and they then saw a white truck slam through a barricade “at a high rate of speed”.
The outlet reported that following the crash in the city’s French Quarter, the driver exited the vehicle and started firing a weapon.
Police reportedly returned fire.
The FBI later confirmed the suspect was killed after a firefight with police and announced it would be opening an investigation.
“We are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism,” the FBI said in a statement.
New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell described the incident a “terrorist attack”.
The driver “was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did”, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told journalists.
She said the driver shot two police officers.
“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.”
Ms Kirkpatrick said the truck had been driven at “very high speed” and in a “very intentional” manner.
Security beefed up following attack
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 are working on confirming if this is a viable device or not,” she said.
The White House said US President Joe Biden had been briefed on the incident.
“A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning,” Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said on X, urging people to stay away from the area where the attack took place.
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New Orleans’ emergency preparedness agency earlier warned of the incident in the district and cautioned people to stay away from the area.
It said the injured had been taken to five local hospitals.
The incident came toward the end of New Year’s celebrations in New Orleans and hours before the kick-off of the Sugar Bowl, a college football quarterfinal held in the city’s Louisiana Superdome with thousands expected to be in attendance.
Police said they would work to ensure safety at the Sugar Bowl, indicating that the game would go on as scheduled.
