New Orleans attack: Suspect ‘hell-bent’ on causing carnage, police say

Ten people have been killed and 35 others injured after a man intentionally drove into a crowd in New Orleans and fired a weapon, police have said.

New Orleans police chief Anne Kirkpatrick said the man drove a pickup truck along Bourbon Street “very fast… trying to run over as many people as he could” at around 03:15 (09:15 GMT). He crashed, then shot and injured two police officers.

The FBI said in a statement it is “working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism”. The suspect is dead, the agency added.

Kirkpatrick said the man was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did”.

The attack took place in New Orleans’ French Quarter – a bustling nightspot popular with locals and tourists.

Whit Davis, from Shreveport, Louisiana, was in a bar with friends when “people started running and getting under tables like it was an active shooter drill”.

“Everyone was just completely in shock,” he added.

“I visit New Orleans frequently and have never seen anything close to this bad.”

Jim and Nicole Mowrer, who were visiting New Orleans from Iowa, told CBS News, the BBC’s US news partner, that they witnessed the truck drive through a barricade at speed then heard gunshots and crashing noises.

They tried to help people they thought were wounded but realised the victims had died.

A hotel worker told CBS he had been closing down for the evening when he looked out the window and noticed “there was a lot of bodies lying on the ground”.

“The truck was speeding away. I immediately ran downstairs to see if there were some people I can help out and unfortunately some people did perish during that event.”

“The scene was just horrific,” he added.

FBI Special Agent Althea Duncan, who is leading the investigation, said an improvised explosive device was also found at the scene and they were working on confirming whether it was “viable”.

Law enforcement officials later told CBS that they are investigating whether the suspect was connected to or inspired by a foreign terror organisation.

A long gun was recovered from the scene, law enforcement sources told CBS.

US President Joe Biden had been briefed “on the horrific news”, according to a White House statement.

“The FBI is already on the ground supporting local law enforcement in the investigation and the president will continue to be briefed throughout the day,” the statement read.

It adds that Biden called the city’s mayor this morning to offer “full federal support”.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said in a post on X that he was “praying for all the victims and first responders on scene”.

“A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning,” Landry wrote.