US: 10 dead, 30 injured as vehicle drives into large crowd in New Orleans

A man hellbent on creating carnage drove a pickup truck at high speed into a crowd of New Year revellers in US city of New Orleans on Wednesday killing at least 10 people and injuring more than 35Police said the incident took place at around 315am 0915 GMT in the heart of the citys famous French Quarter which was packed with people celebrating the arrival of 2025This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told reportersHe was hell bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did Kirkpatrick said adding that the driver had fired on police officers wounding two of themThe status and whereabouts of the driver were not immediately knownAlthough the incident was not being treated as a terror attack Kirkpatrick said the truck had been driven at very high speed and in a very intentional mannerOperational command of the investigation will be taken by the FBI she addedLouisiana Governor Jeff Landry described the incident as a horrific act of violenceIn the wee hours of the years first day the area would have been packed with revellers celebrating in the French Quarter a district renowned for its bars restaurants and jazz historyCBS News television reported witnesses saying the truck rammed into the crowd before its driver jumped out and started exchanging gunshots with policeA white truck crashed through a barricade at a high rate of speed witnesses Jim and Nicole Mowrer told CBSOnce it was past us we did hear gunfire saw police running that direction Nicole Mowrer saidOnce the gunfire stopped we stayed in the alcove until the gunfire stopped came out into the street and came across a lot of several people who had been hit we wanted to see what we could do to helpNew Orleans is one of the most heavily visited destinations in the United States and the incident came shortly before the city hosts a major football game known as the Sugar Bowl featuring teams from the University of Georgia and Notre DamePolicewas heavy over the New Years according to the city as authorities braced for big crowdsThe city police department had announced staffing at 100 percent with an additional 300 officers assisting from partner law enforcement agencies including on horseback and using unmarked unitsThe iconic French Quarter listed special deals for New Years including LGBTQ parties and a drag cabaret nearby where the incident took placeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever