Fire Shots, Chaos On Streets: What Happened After Driver Rammed Into New Orleans Crowd | Video
At least 10 people died while 30 were injured after a vehicle rammed into a crowd in New Orleans on the New Year's day.
The New Year’s Day turned tragic in the southern US city of New Orleans as a vehicle drove into a crowd packed with party-goers celebrating the arrival of 2025, killing at least 10 people and leaving 30 injured.
The vehicle, reportedly a truck, rammed into a crowd at high speed, and the driver exited and opened fire, according to news agency Reuters. The police then engaged in a shootout with the suspect, according to witness accounts reported by CBS News.
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The police were seen shooting at the truck driver soon after the incident that took place on Bourbon Street.
Moment New Orleans police open fire on driver that plowed into a crowd at Bourbon Street pic.twitter.com/9Dly9PwNNZ— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) January 1, 2025
The incident took place at the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Streets during the New Year’s celebrations in which a large crowd participated in the city’s French Quarter.
#BreakingNews | New Orleans Car Accident:10 Dead, 30 Injured In Mass Casualty In Bourbon Street #NewOrleans #CarAccident | @akankshaswarups pic.twitter.com/52XlcOxEcz— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 1, 2025
‘Driver Hellbent On Creating Carnage’: US Police
The United States Police said that the driver tried to “run over as many people as he possibly could" and was “hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did".
The police said that the driver also fired shots in which two police officers were wounded.
“This man, this perpetrator, he fired on our officers from his vehicle when he crashed his vehicle. Two of our officers have been shot. They are stable," Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said.
Mayor Calls It ‘Terrorist Attack’, FBI Joins In
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said that the city was hit by a “terrorist attack" and the situation was still “very active".
Special Agent Althea Duncan said that the FBI is taking over the case and “this is not a terrorist event". However, after an initial contradiction with the Mayor, the FBI is now probing the incident as a terrorist attack.
The agent further said that there were IEDs on the scene and they were working to ascertain if they were “viable" devices.
Eyewitness’ Account
An eyewitness Nicole Mowrer who had visited New Orleans from Iowa told CBS News that she watched fireworks display in the city and was enjoying the New Year’s Day when she and Jim, the man accompanying her, heard a crashing sound coming from down the street. They saw a white truck rammed into a barricade at a high speed.
They said that they heard gunshots noise after the crashing sound and rushed to help people they found injured, however, they had died, CBS News reported.
She estimated that the truck struck people only a block away from where they had been taking a walk.
“Once it was past us, we did hear gunfire, saw police running that direction," Nicole said. “Once the gunfire stopped, we stayed in the alcove until the gunfire stopped, came out into the street, and came across a lot of — several people who had been hit, [we] wanted to see what we could do to help."
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