At least 10 people were killed and as many as 35 injured after a truck drove into a large crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans’ French Quarter early on Wednesday during a New Year’s celebration, according to the FBI and city leaders.
The pick-up truck crashed into the crowd at high speed around 3:15 a.m. and within moments the driver started firing on police officers from inside the vehicle, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said at an early morning news conference. Two officers were shot and are now being treated in stable condition.
CNN and ABC News, citing unnamed officials, said the gunman was killed at the scene.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell told reporters that the driver was on a mission to kill as many people as possible. “He was hell bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did . . . This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could. It was not a DUI situation,” Cantrell said.
Hundreds of police officers were in the city for New Year’s Eve duty when the assault happened, Cantrell said. The driver of the truck swerved around barricades on his way into the crowd, she said.
“Last night, we had over 300 officers out here, and because of the intentional mindset of this perpetrator who went around our barricades in order to conduct this,” the mayor said.
Authorities investigated a Tesla Cybertruck explosion on Wednesday outside the Trump Las Vegas hotel in Nevada as a possible act of terror.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said it was investigating a fire at the entrance to the tower. The public was told to avoid the area, though the police noted the fire had been put out.
The driver pulled into the valet area of the hotel and the vehicle exploded, according to an official. The driver is apparently dead and, so far, the only casualty from the incident. Seven bystanders had minor injuries, authorities said.
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