A driver deliberately crashed his truck into a crowd of New Year’s Day revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans and then opened fire, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 35, in an attack the FBI said it was investigating as an act of terrorism.
“This is not just an act of terrorism, this is evil,” Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said at a televised press conference on Wednesday. “He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
After driving his vehicle into crowds of people over a three-block stretch in the French Quarter around 3:15 am and firing shots into the crowd, the suspect got out of the pickup truck with an assault weapon and opened fire on three police officers, who returned fire and killed the driver.
According to the FBI on Wednesday afternoon, the suspect was identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an Army veteran from Texas and a US citizen, according to the New York Times. An ISIS flag and weapons were found in the rental vehicle.
Surveillance video revealed three men and a woman placing an improvised explosive device in the area, according to the Associated Press, citing a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin.
The Sugar Bowl, a college football game played in New Orleans each year on New Year’s Day, was postponed until Thursday while police continued the investigation and checked the neighborhood for more clues. The city will also be the site of the NFL Super Bowl at the Caesars Superdome on Feb. 9, with Kendrick Lamar as the headliner for the halftime show.
Alethea Duncan, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the FBI in New Orleans, did not rule out that there could be an ongoing threat, saying that agents were running down leads to try to make sure that that was not the case.
“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We’re aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates,” said Duncan during a press conference.
