▪️ At the time, the popular tourist area was filled with people celebrating New Year’s.

▪️ Witnesses told a CBS News reporter that a white truck sped into the crowd on Bourbon Street, after which the driver exited the vehicle and began shooting [at people]. Police returned fire.

▪️ A statement released by New Orleans city authorities confirmed that 30 people were taken to local hospitals with injuries, and the deaths of 10 people have been confirmed.

▪️ New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick stated that the man in the truck broke through barricades and drove down Bourbon Street with clear intent, before exiting the vehicle and opening fire on police officers.

▪️ “This individual was trying to hit as many people as possible,” Kirkpatrick said, adding that two police officers sustained gunshot wounds but are in stable condition.

▪️ Mayor LaToya Cantrell called the incident a “terrorist attack,” but an FBI spokesperson who appeared alongside city officials in the morning refrained from using that term.

▪️ Jim and Nicole Maurer, visiting New Orleans from Iowa, witnessed the incident. Nicole told CBS News that they had just watched the city’s fireworks and were enjoying the festive atmosphere in the French Quarter on New Year’s Eve when they heard a crash from the street. They then saw the white truck speed through the barricade.

▪️ The Maurers said that after the sound of the collision, they heard gunshots and tried to help the injured, only to realize that some victims had already died.

▪️ “We were very close to where it all started,” Nicole said, suggesting the truck struck people just a block away from where they had been walking.