At least 10 people were killed and dozens injured after a driver rammed a truck into crowds on the famed Bourbon Street in New Orleans before jumping out and shooting cops — just hours after the city rang in the New Year, according to officials.
“The city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said of the carnage early Wednesday — as the FBI investigated possibly improvised explosives left at the scene.
The mass casualty incident unfolded at the intersection of Bourbon and Canal Streets in the French Quarter neighborhood at around 3:15 a.m. – close to where revelers had gathered to watch the city’s New Year’s Eve fireworks, police said.
Ten people were killed and at least 35 others were hospitalized after the male driver intentionally drove through barricades and plowed down the street at a “very fast pace,” according to New Orleans Police chief Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” Kirkpatrick said, adding the driver “was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
The suspect then jumped out of the vehicle and immediately started shooting at cops, injuring at least two officers, she added, noting officers returned fire. Explosives were also found at the scene.
Police didn’t provide details on the fate of the killer driver.
The extent of the injuries of those hospitalized also weren’t immediately known.
Unverified videos circulating on social media apparently showed scores of bloodied bodies lining the street as gunshots rang out.
Several EMS and coroner vehicles could be seen on the scene in the aftermath.
Source: NYPost.com