‘Hell-Bent On Carnage’: What We Know About The Driver Who Rammed Into New Orleans Crowd

Last Updated:January 01, 2025, 20:43 IST

Police officials said the suspect was "hell-bent on creating the carnage he did" and added that he died in a gunfight with cops.

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street. (IMAGE: AP PHOTO)

The suspect who rammed into a crowd celebrating New Year’s Day on Wednesday in US’ New Orleans, killing 10, was trying to kill as many people as he could and his actions appeared intentional, police officials said.

“(He displayed) very intentional behaviour. (He) was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could," New Orleans police superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick was quoted as saying by the CBS.

“(The individual) was hell-bent on creating the carnage and damage he did," she further added.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has now taken over the case and is probing it as an “act of terror", after denying it to be a terror attack.

Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said: “This is not a terrorist event".

Later the FBI said in a statement that “we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism."

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell called the incident a “terrorist attack."

The incident at 3:15 a.m. occurred at the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Streets during New Year’s celebrations, the city said in a statement. Bourbon Street is a historic tourist destination in the city’s French Quarter, known for attracting large crowds with its music and bars. The area is known as one of the largest New Year’s Eve destinations.

Kirkpatrick said the driver fired at police and struck two police officers from the vehicle after it crashed. The officers are in stable condition, she added.

The driver died following the shootout with police, officials said.

A disturbing video, recorded by a witness, which has gone viral on social media and was later verified by Reuters, showed two mangled bodies lying in the street, one appearing to be submerged in a pool of blood. A bystander kneels beside one of the victims, while a group of armed military personnel in green uniforms rushed by.

“We know the perpetrator has been killed," said New Orleans City Councilman Oliver Thomas.

The FBI said a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) was found and the FBI was working to determine if it was viable.

The attack is the latest example of a vehicle being used as a weapon to carry out mass violence, a trend that has alarmed law enforcement officials and that can be difficult to protect against.

A 50-year-old Saudi doctor plowed into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers in the German city of Magdeburg last month, killing four women and a 9-year-old boy.

(with inputs from Reuters and AP)

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News world ‘Hell-Bent On Carnage’: What We Know About The Driver Who Rammed Into New Orleans Crowd