New Orleans latest: Multiple fatalities after SUV ploughs into New Year’s Eve partygoers in Bourbon Street

Federal agents will lead the investigation into the New Year’s attack in New Orleans,

Officials said an improvised explosive device was found in the area.

While NOLA mayor LaToya Cantrell called the event a terror attack, an FBI agent then said ‘it’s not a terrorist event.’

Officials revealed Wedbesdagt morning that the suspect fired at police and hit two officers who are in stable condition.

The suspect was ‘hell- bent on creating carnage,’ according to police superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick.

‘It involved a man driving a pickup truck down bourbon street at a very fast pace,’ NOLA police superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said in a press conference.

‘It was very intentional behavior… this man was trying to run as many people over as he could.’

The chief added that ‘this wasn’t a DUI situation.’

She confirmed 10 people were killed and more than 35 injured.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell called the tragedy a terror attack on Wednesday morning.

She asked the public to stay clear of the eight blocks surrounding Bourbon Street.

‘We do know that the city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack,’ Cantrell said,

There was heightened security in the city, and specifically the famous French Quarter, when the attack happened Wednesday morning.

The New Orleans Police Department had said on Monday it would be staffed ‘at 100 percent’ and also have an additional 300 officers assisting.

In a statement, police said they would deply ‘a strong presence of marked and unmarked police vehicles, as well as officers on foot, bike, and horseback.’

Video shared on social media of the aftermath of the attack shows injured bodies lying on Bourbon street.

People are seen standing over the bodies, which are in pools of blood, seemingly in shock as officials with long guns run down the area.

Authorities in New Orleans have told people to stay away from Bourbon Street as they investigate the incident.

Eyewitnesses have spoken to US media about the moment an SUV crashed into crowds of pedestrians celebrating the New Year in Bourbon Street.

Speaking to CNN, Kevin Garcia, 22, said:

All I seen was a truck slamming into everyone on the left side of Bourbon sidewalk. A body came flying at me.

Whit Davis, also 22, added:

Everyone started yelling and screaming and running to the back, and then we basically went into lockdown for a little bit and then it calmed down but they wouldn’t let us leave.

When they finally let us out of the club, police waved us where to walk and were telling us to get out of the area fast. I saw a few dead bodies they couldn’t even cover up and tons of people receiving first aid.

So far we’ve not had a statement from the New Orleans Police Department but we’ve heard from the city’s official disaster preparedness agency, NOLA Ready.

The 8th District is currently working a mass casualty incident involving a vehicle that drove into a large crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street. There are 30 injured patients that have been transported by NOEMS (New Orleans Emergency Medical Services) and 10 fatalities. Public safety partners are responding on scene. Updates will follow as they are received.

A man, who claimed to witness the incident while on Bourbon Street with his wife, wrote on X that he saw an SUV ‘speeding’ down the road and ‘running people over’.

Another alleged witness told WLWT that she saw the vehicle strike the crowd and started running, claiming she only escaped ‘by the grace of god’.

The woman also claimed that multiple officers opened fire at the vehicle, trying to get the driver to stop, the TV news station reported.

Bourbon Street, famous for its many bars and clubs, has reportedly been shut down while investigators work the scene.

DailyMail.com has contacted New Orleans Police Department for more information.

At least 10 people dead and 30 left injured after an SUV allegedly plowed into crowds celebrating New Year on a popular party street in New Orleans.

The driver rammed into a large group near the intersection of Bourbon Street and Canal Street on Wednesday around 3.15am local time, city officials have confirmed.

Witnesses claim the suspect was ‘wearing full body armor’ and ‘armed with an assault rifle’, according to reports on social media.

Dozens of police officers have responded to what authorities have declared a ‘mass casualty event’ and a portion of the road has been cordoned off. Paramedics, ambulances and vehicles from the coroner’s office were also seen at the scene.

Ambulances have transported the wounded to area hospitals, the city added, and police are continuing to investigate the incident.