The FBI is investigating a bloody New Year’s truck rampage on New Orleans‘ iconic Bourbon Street as an act of terrorism — and have confirmed the driver of the pickup who killed at least 10 people and injured dozens more is dead.
“This morning, an individual drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing a number of people and injuring dozens of others. The subject then engaged with local law enforcement and is now deceased,” The FBI said in a statement.
“We are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism,” the bureau added.
The still-unidentified killer ploughed a Ford pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in the heart of the city around 3:15 a.m., leaving what witnesses described as a trail of “twisted” and “horribly disfigured” bodies in its wake.
After the truck — which was trailing a piece of black fabric — crashed into a crane blocking Bourbon Street, the killer engaged police in a firefight and was shot dead. Two officers were wounded in the shootout, but are in stable condition, officials said.
At least 35 people were injured, while the FBI said “improvised explosive devices” were found in the car, suggesting the carnage could have been even worse if law enforcement hadn’t stopped the killer.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” New Orleans Police Chief Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said, adding that the driver “was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
Live updates: Everything to know about the New Orleans ‘terror attack’
Confusion was sown over the nature of the attack Wednesday morning after the FBI initially told reporters “this is not a terrorist event” during a press briefing — just minutes after New Orleans’ Mayor Latoya Cantrell referred to it as a terrorist attack.
Speculation had also spread in the aftermath of the incident that it might have been an accident or a DUI, which police quickly refuted.
The FBI has previously cautioned cities across the country about an uptick in terror attacks using cars to ram into pedestrians, and New Orleans had even recently replaced protective barriers along parts of Bourbon Street.
It remains unclear how the car, which had Texas plates, gained access to the crowded street.
