A man “determined” to cause “carnage” for New Year’s Eve in New Orleans rushed his vehicle into a crowd on Wednesday in the French Quarter of this city in the southern United States. This “possibly terrorist” act left at least ten dead and 35 injured, announced the investigating police.
The alleged perpetrator, who fled after exchanges of fire in which two police officers were injured, died. American investigators found a possible homemade explosive device at the scene of the attack. “We are trying to confirm whether or not this is an active, functioning device,” Alethea Duncan of the FBI said at a press briefing.
The attack took place in the middle of the night, around 3:15 a.m. (10:15 a.m. in Switzerland), in a crowded area where people were celebrating the New Year, between Canal and Bourbon Street, in the historic and festive district, known as “French Quarter” (French quarter). Renowned for its restaurants, bars and jazz clubs, this district is also home to cabarets and places welcoming people from the LGBT community.
CBS News cited witnesses who say a vehicle drove into the crowd at “high speed” before its driver jumped out and began firing a gun, prompting a police response. Two police officers were shot and injured in the attack, police confirmed.
A white truck crossed a barricade “at high speed,” witnesses Jim and Nicole Mowrer told CBS. “Once he passed us, we heard gunshots, we saw the police running in that direction,” Mowrer said.
“Once the gunshots stopped, we stayed hidden until the gunshots stopped, we went out into the street and we met a lot of people who had been hit, we wanted to see what we could do to help them,” she added.
New Orleans is one of the most visited destinations in the United States and the incident occurred shortly before the city hosted a major American football game, the Sugar Bowl, between the teams of the University of Georgia and Notre Dame. According to the municipality, the number of law enforcement officers had been increased during the New Year period, with the authorities preparing for a large crowd in the streets.
The city’s police department had announced “full strength, aided by 300 additional officers from partner law enforcement agencies”, including on horseback and patrolling in unmarked units.
On December 20 in Magdeburg (Germany), Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who came to Germany in 2006, mowed down the crowd gathered at the Christmas market aboard a powerful BMW vehicle at full speed, causing five dead and more than 200 injured.
