Ten people were killed and 30 injured after a vehicle drove into a large crowd in New Orleans, on Canal and Bourbon Street, according to the city’s official disaster preparedness agency, NOLA Ready.

Read the full statement:

“The 8th District is currently working a mass casualty incident involving a vehicle that drove into a large crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street. There are 30 injured patients that have been transported by NOEMS (New Orleans Emergency Medical Services) and 10 fatalities. Public safety partners are responding on scene. Updates will follow as they are received.”

The incident in the popular French Quarter occurred just hours before the city is expected to host The Sugar Bowl, with the University of Georgia taking on Notre Dame.

Eyewitnesses described New Year’s Eve revelry turning into horror when a vehicle crashed into a crowd on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens more.

“All I seen was a truck slamming into everyone on the left side of Bourbon sidewalk,” said Kevin Garcia, 22, speaking to CNN shortly after the incident. “A body came flying at me,” he said, adding that he also heard gunshots being fired.

Another witness, 22-year-old Whit Davis from Shreveport, Louisiana, told CNN the incident occurred while she was at a nightclub on Bourbon Street. “Everyone started yelling and screaming and running to the back, and then we basically went into lockdown for a little bit and then it calmed down but they wouldn’t let us leave,” Davis said. “When they finally let us out of the club, police waved us where to walk and were telling us to get out of the area fast. I saw a few dead bodies they couldn’t even cover up and tons of people receiving first aid.” Police told people on the scene to put their phones away and leave as soon as possible, Davis said.

The driver reportedly exited the vehicle and fired a weapon after hitting the crowd. A large police presence was reported at the scene.

"There has been a mass casualty incident on Canal and Bourbon Street. Get yourself away from the area," NOLA Ready announced on social media. The incident happened around 3:15 a.m. at the intersection of Bourbon Street and Iberville, local news station WGNO reported.

The FBI are investigating this morning's deadly attack in New Orleans as an "act of terrorism" as they confirm the suspect is dead. Police say the driver was "hell-bent on creating the carnage he did" and also opened fire on officers. In an earlier press conference, the FBI had said an improvised explosive device was found at the scene and agents are assessing its viability. The FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana "will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and will deploy every available resource to conduct this investigation", he [Merrick Garland] adds.

More than 30 other people were injured in the attack, which the FBI is investigating as an act of terrorism. The agency said it does not believe the driver acted alone. An Islamic State group flag was found on the vehicle’s trailer hitch, the FBI said. Investigators also found pipe bombs, law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times. Two homemade bombs — packed with nails and concealed in blue coolers — were recovered, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The devices were wired for remote detonation, and a corresponding remote control was discovered inside the suspect’s truck, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by the Associated Press. The FBI said a potential improvised explosive device was located in the vehicle and other potential explosive devices were also located in the French Quarter. The official announced death toll stands at 10 but an earlier law enforcement bulletin put the number at 15. With many of the wounded in critical condition, the number is in flux and likely to rise, according to law enforcement officials. The FBI identified the driver as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas and said it is working to determine Jabbar’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations. “We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said at a news conference.

Jabbar was killed by police after he exited the vehicle and opened fire on officers, police said. Two officers were shot and are in stable condition, police said. They were in addition to 33 people injured in the vehicle attack. A photo circulated among law enforcement officials showed a bearded Jabbar wearing camouflage next to the truck after he was killed. The attack happened around 3:15 a.m. in an area teeming with New Year’s revelers. Law enforcement officials told the Los Angeles Times that Jabbar was from Houston and had served in the U.S. Army. The officials spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media. Investigators recovered a handgun and an AR-style rifle after the shootout, a law enforcement official said. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

featureless wrote: Wed Jan 01, 2025 6:09 pm People on both sides disappointed/shocked/bewildered it wasn't MAGA or ANTIFA... Lots of folk around the world hate the US, including US born folk. I'm amazed this doesn't occur far more frequently. 2025 is going to be fuckin wild (and not in the good way).

Authorities are investigating a possible military connection between the New Orleans car-ramming suspect and the person who died after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside Las Vegas’ Trump International Hotel on New Year’s Day, two law enforcement sources familiar with the cases told NBC News. The potential link was just one thread being pulled by officials Thursday, who were also searching a site in Texas a day after a man drove a pick-up truck flying an ISIS flag into New Orleans’ busy Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing 15 people and injuring at least 30 others. The FBI is investigating it as a terrorist act, and authorities believe multiple people were involved, according to Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill. Hours later, the Las Vegas explosion triggered heightened security around Trump towers in New York and Chicago. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a top adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to take office later this month.

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that “law enforcement and the intelligence community” were investigating “whether there’s any possible connection” between the incidents. New Orleans suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, who died in a subsequent gunfight with police, was a U.S. national, Texas resident and Army veteran. He worked in the military’s human resources and information technology departments between 2006 and 2020, including a deployment to Afghanistan in 2009. The suspect in the Las Vegas Trump tower blast, who has not been publicly identified by law enforcement, also had previous military experience, two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said. They did not elaborate further, stressing the investigation was still unfolding. Both vehicles were rented from the same company, Turo, and officials are looking into whether there is a link on that front. Turo said it was “actively partnering with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents.” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said bollards were not up because they were still under construction. She said the project was nearly finished, with completion expected before New Orleans hosts the Super Bowl in February.

Jabbar lived in Texas, and later Wednesday the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said it was conducting a court-authorized search of a location in Houston, an operation involving an FBI SWAT team, negotiators, bomb technicians and a group of counterterrorism investigators. No arrested had been made, FBI Houston said in an update late Wednesday. Murrill, the Louisiana attorney general, told NBC News that investigators suspected that explosive devices associated with the New Orleans attack were made in an Airbnb in the city rented by those involved. A potential improvised explosive device was in the truck, and other potential IEDs were discovered in the French Quarter, the FBI said.

At least 84 people have been killed, including more than 10 children, after a lorry [19 ton truck] slammed through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice. The driver ploughed on for 2km (1.2 miles) on the Promenade des Anglais at about 23:00 local time on Thursday, before being shot dead by police. The attack in Nice began shortly after the end of a firework display on the seafront for Bastille Day, which is the country's national holiday.

Law enforcement sources have told CBS News, the BBC's US news partner, that the Tesla Cybertruck which exploded outside Trump Towers in Las Vegas was rented to Matthew Alan Livelsberger, an active duty US Army service member. Livelsberger had been serving in Germany but was on leave in Colorado at the time of the incident, CBS reported.

Two relatives of Livelsberger confirmed to CBS he had rented the Cybertruck but were unaware of him having any involvement in the incident. One relative said Livelsberger's wife had not heard from him in several days. Investigators are still looking at whether the attack in New Orleans is linked to the explosion of the vehicle outside the Trump Hotel. US President Joe Biden said no link has been identified yet.

Trump Stokes Hate With False Insinuations About New Orleans Truck Attack Suspect

Donald Trump used the deadly New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans to bolster his fearmongering about “criminals” crossing into the U.S. from abroad and did not correct that assertion after the suspect was identified as a U.S. citizen from Texas.

“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true,” the president-elect posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning.

“The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department.”

He said his incoming administration would “fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”

Fox News had reported minutes prior to Trump’s Truth Social post that the vehicle used by the suspect had crossed into Eagle Pass, Texas, from Mexico two days before the attack.

Just over an hour later, the conservative network retracted that reporting, saying its sources had advised that the truck crossed the border on Nov. 16 apparently driven by someone else. Later in the afternoon, it reported that the truck never crossed over from Mexico.

Trump has not offered any correction to his statement, and has since made an additional post attacking “OPEN BORDERS” and accusing U.S. law enforcement of spending “all of their waking hours unlawfully attacking their political opponent, ME, rather than focusing on protecting Americans from the outside and inside violent SCUM that has infiltrated all aspects of our government, and our Nation itself.”

He posted overnight, “TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!”

Trump’s transition team did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment.

Trump was not the only Republican to use the attack to stoke division and fear about undocumented immigration, a central tenet of his election campaign.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) wrote, “After the horrific attack in New Orleans, Alejandro Mayorkas needs to be called to testify before the Senate immediately - BEFORE Biden leaves office. ACCOUNTABILITY,” referring to the Homeland Security secretary, whom Republicans unsuccessfully tried to impeach over border issues.

Hawley cited “news reports” that the truck “may have recently crossed into the U.S. from Mexico” in a letter shared in a second post calling for Mayorkas to testify.

highdesert wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2025 8:43 am Like January 6, 2021, I expect Congress will be hiding in the tunnels below the Capitol that link it to the House and Senate office buildings. There is a bunker under the White House, "Presidential Emergency Operations Center".

Pronus wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2025 10:49 am

highdesert wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2025 8:43 am Like January 6, 2021, I expect Congress will be hiding in the tunnels below the Capitol that link it to the House and Senate office buildings. There is a bunker under the White House, "Presidential Emergency Operations Center".

Had the Greenbriar bomb shelter not been outed, they could all stay with J.J. and Baby Dog. For a small fee, of course.

It's a smorgasbord of facts waiting to be piled into a shit sandwich to feed the hungry faithful. Pass the Pepto, please.

The driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that caught fire and exploded in Las Vegas outside one of the hotels in Donald Trump’s business empire has been identified as Matthew Livelsberger, a US army veteran from Colorado Springs, Colorado, who died in the incident. Livelsberger, 37, was killed in the explosion, while seven bystanders were wounded. The military veteran, identified by Denver’s KOAA and KTNV media outlets, was behind the wheel of the electric-powered truck, which investigators soon after discovered was packed with fireworks-style mortars, camping fuel and gas canisters when it exploded on Wednesday morning.

Law enforcement sources confirmed to local news outlets that the electric vehicle was rented from Turo, the vehicle-sharing service that was also used in the New Orleans attack on the same day. There, suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar used the Turo app to rent an electric Ford pickup truck used in that attack in the early hours of New Year’s Day, which killed 15 and injured dozens more. News station Denver 7 cited law enforcement sources on Thursday that Livelsberger and Jabbar had served at the same military base – a possible connection the US army has not independently confirmed to the Guardian. Authorities were investigating the link as a possible connection between the two New Year’s Day attacks, those sources told the outlet.

The FBI is conducting operations and searches in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in relation to the Cybertruck explosion, sources told ABC News, with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Investigators are following leads in at least four states and overseas, sources said. Livelsberger served for more than 19 years in the army – 18 of which were spent with special forces, according to his LinkedIn profile. His most recent role was listed as a remote and autonomous systems manager, which he had been in for just three months. Jabbar enlisted in the army in March 2007, working in both human resources and information technology, and was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, then transferred into the US army reserve in 2015. He served until July 2020 and left the military with the rank of staff sergeant.

highdesert wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2025 8:19 am Connected to the above story,

Law enforcement sources have told CBS News, the BBC's US news partner, that the Tesla Cybertruck which exploded outside Trump Towers in Las Vegas was rented to Matthew Alan Livelsberger, an active duty US Army service member. Livelsberger had been serving in Germany but was on leave in Colorado at the time of the incident, CBS reported.

Two relatives of Livelsberger confirmed to CBS he had rented the Cybertruck but were unaware of him having any involvement in the incident. One relative said Livelsberger's wife had not heard from him in several days. Investigators are still looking at whether the attack in New Orleans is linked to the explosion of the vehicle outside the Trump Hotel. US President Joe Biden said no link has been identified yet.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn4x88455qpt

tailgunner wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2025 7:02 pm That reminds me, I need to clean up my battery terminals on my truck. But how do you clean up battery terminals on EV's?

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security on Thursday issued a joint intelligence bulletin warning the nation's 18,000 law-enforcement agencies about potential copycats seeking to emulate this week's devastating ramming and shooting attack in New Orleans, ABC News has learned. The bulletin was sent out of an abundance of caution to sensitize law enforcement around the country to be on the lookout for any activity pointing to the use of vehicles as a method to inflict mass casualties, sources told ABC News. The bulletin notes that ISIS -- to which New Orleans suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar pledged allegiance before the New Orleans attack, according to FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia -- has been promoting the use of vehicles as a terrorism weapon since around 2014.

Sources told ABC News that ISIS has ramped up calls for its supporters to launch low-tech, mass casualty ramming attacks in recent months, especially since the most recent Israel-Hamas conflict began in October 2023. The bulletin offered law enforcement agencies tips on danger signs of upcoming attacks to look out for, including the use of pre-operational surveillance and fraudulent identity documents or credit to rent vehicles. The bulletin stated that Jabbar was inspired by ISIS but that there remains no evidence of any co-conspirators. A senior law-enforcement official told ABC News that there is so far no sign of ISIS claiming responsibility for the New Orleans attack.

The ongoing investigation into the New Year's Day attack on Bourbon Street saw bomb-making materials recovered by FBI agents and local law enforcement at a residence linked to the suspect in Houston, Texas, on Thursday, sources confirmed to ABC News. The items found were also referred to as "precursor chemicals" by agents in the field, sources said. They were discovered during the execution of a search warrant at Jabbar's last known residence in the small community of Greenspoint, in north Houston. Authorities no longer believe there are any other suspects involved in the New Year's truck attack that killed 14 people and injured 35 others, the FBI said Thursday.

Sixteen people remain hospitalized at University Medical Center New Orleans, including eight in intensive care. The death toll is not expected to rise beyond 14 people, Dr. Jeffrey Elder of the University Medical Center New Orleans told ABC News Live on Thursday. After investigators reviewed all surveillance videos, it appears that Jabbar -- a 42-year-old Army veteran and U.S.-born citizen from Texas, who also died in the attack -- placed explosive devices in the area himself and then changed clothes, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Vehicle attacks are becoming more common because they're incredibly simple and extremely difficult to prevent, experts warn. Experts told Axios that terror group ISIS, in particular, helped popularize using vehicles as weapons. The New Orleans tragedy came less than two weeks after a car attack at a German Christmas market killed five and injured more than 200. According to the Mineta Transportation Institute's study of 184 vehicle attacks between 1963 and September 2019, 70% occurred after Jan. 1, 2014. While there is no one cause for the increase in attacks, one big factor stands out: Cars are abundant, readily available and can easily be used as a deadly weapon. While the exact motivations of the driver, 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, are unknown, an ISIS flag was found in the truck he rented.

It's not clear if Jabbar, who died at the scene, had any formal affiliation with terrorist organizations, but he posted videos to social media indicating he was inspired by ISIS. Ramming attacks emerged as a terrorism tactic in the 1990s with Palestinian groups. At that time, groups like al-Qaeda favored spectacular, sophisticated mass casualty attacks, Javed Ali, a former counterterrorism official who teaches at the University of Michigan, said. ISIS' emergence presented a "very significant philosophical shift for jihadist operations" where attackers used "whatever means they could." In 2016, ISIS outlined how adherents outside the Middle East could attack using "vehicles that unexpectedly mount their busy sidewalks" in its online magazine, Rumiyah. The deadliest vehicle attack was in July 2016 when a driver killed 86 people on Bastille Day in Nice, France, using a rented 19-ton truck. ISIS called the driver its "soldier."

After several similar attacks across Europe, Ali worried about that threat coming to America. Then on Halloween 2017, an Islamic extremist from Uzbekistan drove a truck onto a New York bike path, killing eight. These attacks are not just carried out by jihadist groups or sympathizers. One of the most prominent vehicle attacks in America occurred in 2017 when a white supremacist drove into a crowd of counter-protesters at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one. Violent tactics can skip across ideologies, said Timothy Clancy, a researcher at the University of Maryland's National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. Just days after a high-profile terror attack on London Bridge killed eight in 2017, a man influenced by far-right ideas drove a van into worshippers outside a London mosque. Researchers speculated that the ISIS-inspired vehicular ramming "contagion" had "burned itself out" before the New Orleans tragedy, Clancy said.

"But sometimes these scripts can last for years or decades, and you have another one pop up and sort of refill the reservoir," he said. These attacks followed a similar template, Clancy said: rent a vehicle, weigh it down, ram into a group of people, and then get out with weapons to inflict more damage. Jabbar drove a rented F-150 Lightning, which weighs over 1,000 pounds more than a conventional Ford pickup truck and provides instant acceleration. There are significant challenges to preventing these threats because urban areas host millions of pedestrians — and vehicles. Experts recommend erecting temporary or permanent barriers where people or gatherings are the most exposed to reduce fatalities. Additionally, there have been calls for increased scrutiny of truck or large van rentals. Despite precautions, the threat remains.

About 400 police officers were in the French Quarter over Tuesday night, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said Wednesday. A parked NOPD SUV had replaced malfunctioning bollards, but Jabbar swerved around it and onto the sidewalk to illegally enter the pedestrian-filled roadway. "We did indeed have a plan, but the terrorist defeated it," Kirkpatrick told reporters. The bottom line: Attackers adapt to new protections, "and then that adaptation becomes part of the new contagion," Clancy said. Preventing attacks often means finding those who are at high risk of being radicalized first — and checking in with those who seem to be going down a dangerous path. "Because these are so statistically rare, it's very hard to put in place a policy designed to specifically stop them that doesn't have an unintended consequence higher than the cost of the act itself," he said. "And that's a hard balancing act."