The FBI is investigating an “act of terrorism” that claimed the lives of 10 people and injured 35 others while they celebrated the New Year in New Orleans.
A man drove his electric vehicle into a crowd of revelers on Canal and Bourbon Street before he engaged law enforcement in a firefight that ended with his death at around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday.
Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said the suspect was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and damage that he did” adding that the driver managed to go around police barricades to perpetrate his plan.
Witness Jimmy Cothran reported seeing “horribly disfigured” bodies on the street after the ramming in scenes that could only be compared to “a movie.”
“We live here and unfortunately, our first thoughts were somebody’s shooting or chasing them,” he said.
From an upstairs’ balcony he could see the horrific scene with victims’ bodies scattered on the ground, some “graphically deceased” and with tire track marks on them.
“Two looked to be at least alive. I wouldn’t say survivable but at least alive.”
