Driver kills 10 ramming truck into New Orleans crowd in New Year's ...

By Brian Thevenot, Reuters

FBI investigators arrive at the scene where the white Ford F-150 pickup truck that crashed into a work lift after allegedly driving into a crowd of New Year's revellers in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Photo: MATTHEW HINTON/AFP

A 42-year-old Texas man has crashed a pickup truck into a crowd celebrating New Year's Day in New Orleans' French Quarter and then opened fire on police, killing at least 10 people and injuring 35, in an early morning attack the FBI said was a potential act of terrorism.

The driver, identified by the FBI as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a US citizen from Texas, died at the scene in the shootout with police and may have been acting in concert with others, officials said.

The incident occurred at 3.15am (10.15pm NZT) near the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Streets, a historic tourist destination in the city's French Quarter known for attracting large crowds with its music and bars.

An ISIS flag was found in the vehicle, prompting an investigation into possible links to terrorist organisations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. It said the vehicle appeared to have been rented.

"We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates," FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan told a press conference.

Investigators found weapons and a potential explosive device in the vehicle, and other potential explosive devices were found in the French Quarter, the FBI said. Two explosive devices were rendered safe, Duncan said.

She confirmed the death toll of 10, after a member of the U.S. Congress said the number may have risen.

Officials postponed the Sugar Bowl, a classic American college football game played in New Orleans each New Year's Day, for 24 hours, event organisers said. The city will also be the site of the NFL Super Bowl on 9 February.

One city leader described the assailant as being in full military gear.

"This is not just an act of terrorism, this is evil," Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick told the press conference.

"He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did," she said at a previous press conference.

Kirkpatrick said the driver, who swerved around barricades, shot and wounded two police officers from the vehicle after it crashed. The officers were in stable condition, she added.

"As we search for a motive, remember there is no making sense of evil," said New Orleans City Councilman Oliver Thomas.

About 400 officers were on duty in the French Quarter at the time of the incident, police said.

"This is a fluid situation and we are in co-ordination with numerous local and federal law enforcement agencies to ensure a complete and thorough investigation to bring those who may have been part of this incident to justice," Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said on X.

'Horrific act'

Verified video taken by an onlooker shows at least two twisted bodies in the street, with one of them lying in what appears to be a puddle of blood. A bystander is seen kneeling over one of the bodies as a group of uniformed military personnel in green uniforms and carrying firearms runs past.

The injured were taken to at least five hospitals, according to NOLA Ready, the city's emergency preparedness department.

A couple told CBS News that they heard crashing noises coming from down the street and then saw a white truck slam through a barricade "at a high rate of speed".

Zion Parsons, 18, told NOLA.com that he and his two friends were leaving a Bourbon Street eatery when they heard a commotion and saw a white car barrelling toward them.

He said he dodged the vehicle, but one of his friends was struck, with her leg "twisted and contorted above and around her back."

"You can just look and see bodies, just bodies of people, just bleeding, broken bones," he said.

Louisiana US Senator Bill Cassidy said on CNN that despite the attack, law enforcement in New Orleans was ready for the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday night.

In response to vehicle attacks on pedestrian malls around the world, New Orleans was in the process of removing and replacing the steel barriers known as bollards that restrict vehicle traffic in the Bourbon Street pedestrian zone. The project's status was unclear at the time of Wednesday's attack.

Construction began in November 2024 and was scheduled to continue through February 2025, according to a city website.

Last month in Germany, a 50-year-old man was charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder after police said he plowed a car through crowds at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing five people and injuring scores.

President Joe Biden called the city's mayor to offer full federal support. President-elect Donald Trump said his incoming administration would help New Orleans as it investigates and recovers from what he called an act of pure evil.

- Reuters