Hellbent’ on carnage: At least 10 killed in New Orleans truck attack

At least 10 people have been killed and 35 others injured after a driver crashed his pickup truck into a crowd at high speed in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

On Wednesday, officials in the United States city described the car-ramming as a deliberate attack.

“This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters on Wednesday.

“He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”

Kirkpatrick added that the situation was not considered an instance of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, known as a DUI.

“ It was very intentional behaviour,” Kirkpatrick said. “It was not a DUI situation.

This is more complex and more serious based on the information we have right now.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later identified the suspect as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, US citizen from Texas.

The incident occurred around 3:15am (09:15 GMT) near the intersection of Canal and Bourbon streets, a busy pedestrian thoroughfare in the heart of New Orleans’s historic French Quarter.

The New Orleans Police Department explained in a statement that Jabbar’s car struck multiple pedestrians before crashing.

“After the vehicle came to a stop, the suspect reportedly opened fire on responding officers, who returned fire,” the police statement said.

“The [suspect] was struck and subsequently declared deceased on scene.”

Videos shared online and verified by Al Jazeera show people fleeing the scene of the incident after gunshots rang out.

Kirkpatrick said the driver shot two police officers, but they were in “stable” condition.

The incident came as late-night New Year’s celebrations continued on Bourbon Street, a popular destination for partygoers, packed with bars and venues for music and dancing.

It also happened hours before the kickoff of the Allstate Sugar Bowl, a college football quarterfinal held in the city’s Caesars Superdome, with thousands expected to be in attendance.

The FBI quickly announced it was taking the lead in a probe into the incident.

Investigators with the bureau reported that they had discovered what appeared to be a possible improvised explosive in the suspect’s vehicle, though it was unclear at the time whether the device was viable.

Later, an FBI statement added that a flag affiliated with the ISIL (ISIS) armed group was also found in the truck.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the incident as a “terrorist attack”.

“We do know the city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack,” she said in a predawn news conference.

“It’s all still under investigation.”

The FBI also said in a statement, “We are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism.”

But initially, law enforcement appeared wary of designating the event as a “terrorist” attack.

Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, had said earlier in the day:

“This is not a terrorist event.”

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera correspondent Rosiland Jordan noted that, while the FBI is now treating the incident as an act of terrorism, the bureau has yet to specify what evidence it has to make that legal determination.

“ Motive is the big question,” Jordan explained. “They don’t know whether this person had any ulterior motives.

They don’t know if this person had any assistance.  

They don’t know, if indeed this had been planned, how long this incident had been in the planning.”

She noted that there had been a heightened police presence in New Orleans for the New Year’s festivities, as well as to provide security for the Sugar Bowl football game.

But some of the barriers that ordinarily would have been in place to prevent a car-ramming had been removed at the time of Wednesday’s attack, according to local media reports.

The city had been in the process of replacing bollards — polls designed to impede traffic — in advance of the Super Bowl LIX game, the pinnacle of the American football season, set to be held in New Orleans in February.

However, it is unclear whether the barriers were a factor in Wednesday’s incident, with some witnesses reporting seeing the truck drive around them.

Early on Wednesday, the White House indicated that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation and spoken with Mayor Cantrell in the hours since the fatal attack.

Later, Biden himself issued a statement. “My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday,” he wrote.

“There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”

He credited the “swift response of local law enforcement” with preventing further death and injury.

Another member of the Biden administration, Attorney General Merrick Garland, called the car-ramming a “terrible tragedy”.

“My heart is broken for those who began their year by learning people they love were killed in this horrific attack,” Garland, the top law enforcement officer in the federal government, wrote in a statement.

He confirmed that federal authorities were treating the incident as an act of terrorism, and he pledged to “deploy every available resource to conduct this investigation”.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also encouraged “the public to be vigilant” in the aftermath of the attack.

Meanwhile, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry urged people to stay away from the Bourbon Street area, as the investigation continues.

Multiple blocks had been cordoned off after the car-ramming.

“A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning,” Landry wrote on the social media platform X, adding that he was “praying for all the victims and first responders on the scene”.

US President-elect Donald Trump likewise offered condolences in the aftermath of the attack, calling it an “act of pure evil”.

But in a social media post, he used the car-ramming to underscore one of the primary pillars of his political agenda: limiting immigration into the US.

Trump implied immigrants were involved in the attack, though the FBI later identified the suspect as a US citizen.

“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media,” Trump wrote.

“Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department.”

Al Jazeera correspondent Kimberly Halkett underscored that Wednesday’s social media post echoes the anti-immigration message Trump championed on the campaign trail.

A Republican who previously served as president from 2017 to 2021, Trump won a second term in the White House during November’s general elections and is slated to return to office on January 20.

“ This is consistent with President Trump’s ongoing theme that he wants to limit immigration into the United States, particularly those that he believes are undocumented,” Halkett said.

Jordan also noted that the car-ramming happened at a pivotal time for New Orleans, a city whose economy relies on tourism.

Parades for the Christian holiday of Mardi Gras draw crowds from around the world, as does the city’s jazz scene.

“This is a very, very significant incident. It comes just as New Orleans is entering its peak tourism season, about two months before Mardi Gras and the start of the Christian Lent period, before Easter,” Jordan said.

An estimated 43 million tourists visit Louisiana every year, according to state statistics.

In 2023 alone, visitors spent a total $18.

1bn and generated $1.

9bn in state and local taxes.

“Anything that might have a negative impact on what local businesses are counting on — which is bringing in thousands and thousands of people for tourism — could have a negative impact on the New Orleans economy,” Jordan explained.

Already, the National Football League (NFL) has expressed its support for the Louisiana city, saying it would proceed with planning its Super Bowl championship game there.

It added that it had collaborated with state, local and federal officials for two years to ensure “comprehensive security plans” for February’s game.

“We are confident attendees will have a safe and enjoyable Super Bowl experience,” the NFL said in its statement.

In the lead-up to the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday evening, the Superdome stadium also underwent extensive security sweeps.

The New Year’s Day car-ramming incident is not the first time New Orleans has weathered tragedy during its famed celebrations.

This past November, for instance, two people were killed and 10 others injured in two separate shootings during a “second line”, a traditional New Orleans parade known for brass bands and dancing.

And in February 2017, police said a man who appeared highly intoxicated plowed his pickup truck into a crowd of spectators watching the main Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, injuring more than 20 people.

New Orleans has struggled with a high homicide rate in recent years, with some media outlets dubbing it the “murder capital of the United States”.

But officials have touted a decline in violent crime.

In December, New Orleans police officials noted that crime overall in the city had slumped 26 percent in 2024, compared with the previous year.

Murders had likewise dropped 35 percent.