I bet it was pretty terrorizing for the people there.
“It was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” the New Orleans police superintendent, Anne Kirkpatrick, said in a news conference Wednesday morning. “He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
According to Ms. Kirkpatrick, the man drove the truck at high speed into crowds at around 3:15 a.m. before crashing and opening fire, shooting two police officers. Investigators said they later found what appeared to be improvised explosive devices in the truck and were trying to determine whether the devices were viable.
[...]
Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge with the F.B.I. in New Orleans, said the attack was not being investigated as a terrorist attack.
[...]
The attack happened at the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Streets during New Year’s Eve celebrations, which bring large, raucous crowds to the city’s French Quarter. It also came just hours before college football’s Sugar Bowl, between Notre Dame and the University of Georgia, was scheduled to kick off at the city’s Superdome.
[...]
The status of the suspect was unclear.
NYT
At that same NYT link, 7 minutes earlier, a different reporter filed this:
The driver of the pickup truck is dead after getting into a shootout with police after he ran over pedestrians and crashed, according to two law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. The incident is being investigated as a suspected act of terrorism, the officials said.
So, it is and it isn't being investigated as a terrorist attack, and the status of the suspect is unclear and he's dead. As always, early reports of events are not entirely reliable.
Here's what a local station has to say this morning:
Hours into the New Year, a man drove a white pickup truck through barricades on Bourbon Street in the city's French Quarter area during a time when police officials said they were "staffed 100 percent" for New Year's Eve and the Sugar Bowl.
At some point, police said the driver left the vehicle and began firing shots from an assault rifle into the crowd, injuring two police who exchanged fire. Police believe the suspect is dead, according to ABC News.
[...]
Local police have considered the incident an act of terrorism. Officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said they are also investigating the incident but did not declare Wednesday's incident as an act of terrorism.
Officials said the suspected driver is not in custody and remains at large and have asked locals to steer clear of the area.
WJLA
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
UPDATE 07:53 am:
And while we're on the subject...
UPDATE 09:57 am: Official announcement
Mayorkas is secretary of Homeland Security.
The pickup had a Texas license plate affixed.
UPDATE 12:35 pm:
The suspect accused of killing at least 10 people and injuring 30 Wednesday morning in New Orleans has been preliminary identified as Shamsud Din Jabbar.
NBC
Of course, they could be investigating this as an act of terror simply because of the man's name. According to NBC, Shamsud is a US citizen born in Texas, but he DID have an ISIS flag flying from the trailer hitch of his truck. Haven't heard anything about ISIS in a while. I wonder why he went to New Orleans to wreak havoc instead of somewhere in Texas.
JFC
UPDATE 07:40 pm:
