At least 15 people died this Wednesday after a vehicle ran over a crowd in New OrleansUnited States, according to authorities. The incident occurred during the celebrations of New Year and also caused another 30 injuries, several seriously. The FBI is investigating it as a terrorist act. The attacker had an Islamic State flag.
The Police stated that the event had left numerous victims in the famous area of Bourbon Street of the city, very crowded for New Year’s celebrations, after a car hit and killed a group of people, and injured three dozen others.
Witnesses to what happened cited by the CBS News indicated that a vehicle had crashed into a group of people in the middle of the street, and that the driver had subsequently shot a firearm.
The city’s mayor LaToya Cantrell described the incident as a “terrorist attack.” Hours later, the FBI, which has taken charge of the investigation, confirmed that the case was being investigated as an “act of terrorism.”
“A man drove a vehicle into the crowd on the street Bourbon Street, killing several people and injuring dozens more. “The subject exchanged gunfire with police and is now dead,” the FBI said in a statement. He then added that the attacker was an American citizen named Shamsud Din Jabbar and that in his vehicle they found a flag of the terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS).
Attack in the United States: a vehicle ran over a crowd and killed 15 people
“We know that the city of New Orleans was hit by a terrorist attack,” said Cantrell while Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick stated that “it was a man driving a van down Bourbon Street at a very fast pace. , and his behavior was very intentional.” “This man was trying to run over as many people as possible.”he added.
The New Orleans emergency preparedness agency previously reported the incident in the district and warned people to stay away from the area. The nature of the injuries is unknown at this time, report the authorities, who have specified that the injured have been transferred to five hospitals of the area.
The incident occurred toward the end of New Year’s celebrations in New Orleans and hours before the start of the AllState Bowla college football quarterfinal game held at the city’s Caesars Superdome, which was expected to be attended by thousands. The local police had reported on Monday that they would have all their staff during the festivities and another 300 additional officers, according to local media.
Kirkpatrick also said that the attacker shot at the officers and that at least two police officers were injured, although their lives are not in danger. “Last night, there were over 300 officers here, and because of the intentional attitude of this perpetrator, who surrounded our barricades to carry out this, he was determined to cause the massacre and the damage that he caused,” Kirkpatrick said.
Police did not immediately report the condition of the attacker, but it was later learned that he was killed. Images circulating on the networks show several agents shooting at the truck. In the area they found explosives that had been planted by three other people.
The FBI reported that Jabbar He could have had accomplices for the attack, given that other possible explosives were located in the French Quarter. Meanwhile, the Louisiana State Police reported in a bulletin that a series of surveillance images show three people – two men and a woman – placing said devices in the area.
Source: Ambito
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