A 31-year-old British man, who was the stepson of the former housekeeper of Princes William and Harry, is among 14 people killed on New Year’s Eve in the Islamist car-ramming attack in New Orleans, British police announced on Saturday. Charles III is “deeply saddened” by the death of Edward Pettifer, reported the British agency PA. The king contacted the victim’s family to offer his condolences.
Reaction from the royal family
William and his wife Kate said they were “shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Ed Pettifer.” “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Pettifer family and all the innocent people who have been tragically affected by this horrific attack.”wrote the heir to the throne on social networks.
Edward Pettifer was the stepson of Princes William and Harry’s former governess, Tiggy Legge-Bourke, also known as Alexandra Pettifer. She married Charles Pettifer, Edward’s father, in the late 1990s. Foreign Minister David Lammy said “deeply saddened” by the death of this Briton. “We support his family and stand united with the United States against terrorist threats”added the minister on X.
Fourteen people were killed
The Metropolitan Police said they were helping the victim’s family with the procedure for repatriating the body to the United Kingdom.
Edward “will be missed terribly”, his family reacted “devastated”quoted in the Metropolitan Police press release.
Fourteen people were killed, and around thirty others injured, in the attack, which occurred in the tourist French quarter of New Orleans, in the south of the United States, in the midst of New Year’s festivities.
A former American soldier, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, “inspired” by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), rushed his car into the crowd. He was later killed in exchanges of fire with police.
