A car-ramming attack left at least ten people dead and 35 injured in historic New Orleans during New Year’s Eve celebrations, Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced, calling the incident a “terrorist attack.”
The incident took place around 3:15 a.m., when a pickup truck deliberately drove into a crowd celebrating the New Year on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. “He tried to run over as many people as he could,” police told AFP. American investigators found a possible homemade explosive device at the scene of the attack.
According to Anne Kirkpatrick, police chief, the driver, “fiercely determined to cause carnage”, got out of his vehicle and opened fire, provoking a response from the police. Two police officers were shot and injured during the exchange of fire.
The city’s emergency services confirmed in a statement that the incident occurred at the intersection of Canal Street and Bourbon Street, a particularly busy area during New Year’s festivities.
