NEW ORLEANS: A 42 year old Texas man crashed a pickup truck into a crowd celebrating New Year’s Day in New Orleans’ French Quarter and then opened fire on police, killing 10 people and injuring 35, in an early morning attack the FBI said was a potential act of terrorism.
The suspect, identified by the FBI as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a US citizen from Texas, died at the scene in the shootout with police, officials said.
“An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the lead investigator, said in a statement.
Investigators found weapons and a potential explosive device in the vehicle, and other potential explosive devices were found in the French Quarter, the FBI said. It said the vehicle appeared to have been rented.
One city leader described the assailant as being in full military gear.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said at a televised press conference on Wednesday. “He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
The incident occurred at 3.15 am (5.15pm, Singapore time) near the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Streets, a historic tourist destination in the city’s French Quarter known for attracting large crowds with its music and bars.
Kirkpatrick said the driver, who swerved around barricades, shot and wounded two police officers from the vehicle after it crashed. The officers were in stable condition, she added.
Source: CNA
