The superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department said that “this man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could.”
A man driving a pickup truck plowed through a crowd in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the early hours of Wednesday morning, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more in what the Louisiana city’s mayor called a “terrorist attack.”
Anne Kirkpatrick, superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, told reporters that the deadly incident “was not a DUI situation.”
“It was very intentional behavior,” said Kirkpatrick. “This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could.”
After driving into the crowd on Bourbon Street amid New Year’s celebrations at around at around 3:15 am, the man exited his vehicle and opened fire on police, according to the superintendent. The suspect reportedly wounded two police officers.
NOLA.com later reported that the man “has been identified by a law enforcement source as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar.”
“Police fatally shot him after the attack,” the newspaper noted. “The source said Jabbar was carrying an ISIS flag in the truck.”
The FBI said it is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism and working to determine whether an explosive device was found at the scene, NBC‘s Tom Winter reported.
In a statement, the FBI said that “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 bureau added.
LaToya Cantrell, the mayor of New Orleans, said that while the investigation is still ongoing, “we do know that the city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack.”
Gov. Jeff Landry wrote on social media that “a horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning.”
“I urge all near the scene to avoid the area,” the governor added.
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