At least 15 dead, 35 injured in New Orleans in terror attack on crowded Bourbon Street

The death toll from a terror attack on Bourbon Street was updated to 15 Wednesday afternoon after a pickup truck tore through Bourbon Street where crowds were celebrating the arrival of the New Year in the early hours of the day.

The number of people killed was increased from initial reports of 10 after the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office confirmed additional fatalities with local hospitals.

Another 35 people were injured, some of them critically, according to authorities.

The driver of the truck, who the FBI identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar of Texas, was killed after a shootout with police in which two officers were wounded, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said.

The NOPD officers who were shot were taken to University Medical Center and were in stable condition, according to the police chief. She said the same facility is also treating 26 of the injured people, and the remainder have been taken to other local hospitals.

Weapons and a “potential IED,” or improvised explosive device, were founding inside the truck, and an Islamic State flag was placed atop a pole on the truck’s trailer hitch, according to the FBI.

Video shows the moment the FBI says Shamsud Din Jabbar raced onto a packed Bourbon Street from Canal Street in a pickup truck with Texas plates and an ISIS flag. https://t.co/P0iWiTX30Z pic.twitter.com/hmeB1tUjpc

— FOX 8 New Orleans (@FOX8NOLA) January 1, 2025

At around 3:15 a.m., the FBI said Jabbar steered what’s believed to be a rental truck around a police barricade at Canal Street meant to keep vehicles off of Bourbon Street and sped into a crowd.  The truck sped through nearly three blocks before colliding with a lift vehicle near Conti Street.

“He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said.

Alethea Duncan, the FBI’s assistant special agent in charge for the New Orleans district, said it is believed Jabbar did not act alone, and agents are looking into possible accomplices.

A small fire at a house in the St. Roch neighborhood, about 2 miles away from the French Quarter, is being investigated in connection with the terror attack, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told WDSU-TV.

Biden, Trump react

President Joe Biden addressed the New Orleans terror attack Wednesday evening in a nationwide broadcast from Camp David. He vowed to provide all federal resources necessary to assist in the investigation.

Jabbar posted videos on social media “mere hours before the attack … indicating he had been inspired by ISIS, Biden said the FBI informed him.

The Bourbon Street incident is not believed to be connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, the president said. A person inside the vehicle was killed and seven people nearby were injured.

Law enforcement officials in Las Vegas have yet to label the explosion a terrorist act but said late Wednesday they have not ruled out a possible link to what occurred in New Orleans. Police there consider it an isolated incident. They have determined the name of the person killed but are not releasing it yet.

The Tesla Cybertruck was rented in Colorado through Turo, the same smartphone app-based platform that was used to rent the pickup truck used in the New Orleans terror attack, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said.

In a Wednesday morning post on his Truth Social platform, President-elect Donald Trump said “criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country …” although authorities would later confirm Jabbar was born in the United States.

“Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department,” he added. “The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”

Some victims identified

One of the people killed has been identified as 18-year-old Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux of Gulfport, Mississippi, The Times-Picayune reported. She had accompanied her cousin and friend to the French Quarter for New Year’s Eve, her mother said.

KLFY-TV in Lafayette has confirmed that Martin “Tiger” Bech, 28, also died in the terror attack. Bech is a graduate of St. Thomas More Catholic High School who played football at Princeton University. His brother Jack, who played for LSU before transferring to Texas Tech, confirmed his death in an X post.

Reggie Hunter, 37, of Baton Rouge was also among the fatalities, WAFB-TV reported. The father of two made a last-minute decision to travel to the French Quarter with his cousin, who was also struck by the truck and injured.

The Baton Rouge television station also reported that Episcopal High School sent a message to parents Wednesday that said Kareem Badawi, a 2024 graduate, was fatally struck and his classmate, Parker Vidrine, is in critical condition from the attack.

Nicole Perez, 27, of Metairie was also killed. The Times-Picayune reported she was the mother of a 4-year-old son and was recently promoted to a manager at the deli where she worked.

A spokesperson for Archbishop Shaw High School in Marrero confirmed to WVUE-TV that Hubert Gauthreaux, 21, was among those killed in the attack. Gauthreaux graduated from Shaw in 2021 and was remembered as a bright and promising young man, according to the school representative.

Protective bollards weren’t deployed

Steel bollards that can block vehicle access were installed along and near Bourbon Street in 2017 to protect pedestrians, but they were not deployed and are in the process of being replaced according to the city’s Department of Public Works website.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the bollards were being replaced in advance of the Super Bowl, which New Orleans will host Feb. 9. Kirkpatrick said police vehicles were in place at the bollard sites, but Jabbar was able to drive on the sidewalk around those barriers.

The FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism. Bomb squad personnel were seen entering the French Quarter, where the FBI said other “potential” explosive devices were located. Several small booms were heard blocks away, which City Council members said were controlled detonations to clear possible IEDs.

An eight-block stretch of Bourbon Street remains closed to traffic, and some hotels in the French Quarter have been evacuated as a precautionary measure. The public is being asked to avoid a large portion of the historic neighborhood, which typically sees crowds larger than typical weekends for New Year’s Eve.

Hospitality and service industry employees reporting for work Wednesday morning were being turned away from cordoned-off areas.

New Orleans is hosting fans of the University of Georgia and Notre Dame for the Sugar Bowl. The college football playoff quarterfinal was scheduled for Wednesday night at the Superdome, but the game has been postponed until 3 p.m. Thursday.

Landry said he planned to attend the Sugar Bowl, emphasizing the event will be held safely, and he will order flags at state buildings flown at half staff in memory of the lives lost Wednesday morning.

University of Georgia President Jere Morehead confirmed on social media that a student. from the school “was critically injured in the attack and is receiving medical treatment.”

Multiple news sources reported the Superdome was locked down Wednesday morning for a security sweep. The venue will also host Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon in New Orleans, Gov. Jeff Landry said he has signed an executive order to declare an emergency in order to expedite state resources to New Orleans to assist local and federal investigators. A military police company of 100 soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard is also being assigned to New Orleans, the governor said.

Texas authorities respond

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick confirmed that Jabbar “has been living in the Houston area,” the Texas Tribune reported. In a statement, the FBI’s Houston office said it was “conducting law enforcement activity” with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office near the intersection of Hugh Road and Crescent Peak Drive, the north Houston intersection where Jabbar’s most recent known address was located.

This story was updated throughout the day with new information.

WATCH: You see a group of law enforcement officers run from Bourbon & St Peter towards Canal. About 30 seconds later you see 3 more LSP troopers whip around the corner.

This is from Earth Cam’s live feed from the Cat’s Meow. https://t.co/TaysJ9BhUE @WAFB pic.twitter.com/zebKye1jYH

— lizkohTV (@lizkohTV) January 1, 2025

A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning.

Please join Sharon and I in praying for all the victims and first responders on scene.

I urge all near the scene to avoid the area.

— Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) January 1, 2025

Statement from the FBI on the situation in New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/B3TskTJyUc

— FBI (@FBI) January 1, 2025

Many of us woke up this morning to devastating news of the brutal intentional slaughter of innocent people celebrating the New Year in New Orleans. I’m praying for the victims and their families and will ensure they get justice for this appalling act. Please avoid the immediate…

— Attorney General Liz Murrill (@AGLizMurrill) January 1, 2025

Statement from the Sugar Bowl Committee pic.twitter.com/OmatGg9h4y

— Allstate Sugar Bowl (@SugarBowlNola) January 1, 2025

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