New Orleans police say the suspect was killed after exchanging gunfire with police and attempting to flee.
At least 15 people have been killed and dozens more injured after a man smashed a pick-up truck into a crowd of New Year’s revellers in New Orleans in the United States.
The attack occurred at about 3:15am (09:15 GMT) on Wednesday near the intersection of Canal and Bourbon streets, a busy pedestrian thoroughfare in the heart of New Orleans’s historic French Quarter.
The suspect was identified by the FBI as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US citizen from Texas state and a US military veteran.
The suspect drove a white Ford F-150 electric pickup into a group of pedestrians, then exited and was killed in a shootout with police – two of whom were wounded. Two homemade bombs were found and neutralised, the FBI said.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters.
Driving at “very high speed” and in a “very intentional” manner, “he was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said.
Videos shared online and verified by Al Jazeera show people fleeing the scene of the incident after gunshots rang out.
Officials said a manhunt was underway, with FBI agent Alethea Duncan warning that authorities “do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible”.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said: “We’re hunting some bad…
