An individual who drove into a crowd in New Orleans early on New Year's Day was killed by law enforcement officers, the FBI said on Wednesday, adding it was investigating the case as "an act of terrorism."
A vehicle rammed into a crowd of New Orleans revelers, killing 10 people and leaving injured at least 30 others, the media reports said.
"This morning, an individual drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing a number of people and injuring dozens of others," the FBI said in a statement.
"The subject then engaged with local law enforcement and is now deceased. The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism."
After the vehicle came to a stop, the driver emerged from the truck and open fire on responding officers, New Orleans police said.
Officers returned fire, striking and killing the driver, police said, as per The Associated Press (AP).
Two officers were shot and are in stable condition, police said.
At a news conference, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the killings as a "terrorist attack" and the city's police chief said the act was clearly intentional.
Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said the driver was "hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did."
"It was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he could," Kirkpatrick said.
FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan said officials were investigating at least one suspected improvised explosive device at the scene.
The area is known as one of the largest New Year's Eve destinations.
Crowds in the city were ballooning in anticipation of Wednesday night's Sugar Bowl college football playoff game at the nearby Superdome between Georgia and Notre Dame.
Kirkpatrick said police officers would work to ensure safety at the Sugar Bowl, indicating that the game would go on as scheduled.
Kevin Garcia, 22, told CNN that he saw a truck slamming into people on a sidewalk and heard gunshots.
"A body came flying at me," he said.
Whit Davis told the network that he heard people yelling and running to the back as he was leaving a nightclub.
"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," said Davis, 22.
The injured were taken to five hospitals, the city's emergency preparedness department said.
Multiple U.S. media quoted law enforcement sources saying the attacker had been preliminarily identified as Shamsud Din Jabbar, but with no further detail confirmed on his nationality or motive.
The vehicle used was a white Ford F150 electric pick-up, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent on the scene said.
The New Orleans attack came 10 days after a similar car-ramming assault at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg that killed five and wounded more than 200.
President Joe Biden called New Orleans Mayor Cantrell "to offer full federal support following the horrific news," the White House said.
"There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation's communities," Biden said in a statement.
President-elect Donald Trump linked the attack to illegal immigration, giving no evidence, but police have yet to indicate the nationality of the assailant.
"When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in the country ... it turned out to be true," Trump posted on social media.
Trump also claimed that the nation's crime rate "is at a level that nobody has ever seen." In fact, violent crime is sharply down across the country, according to the FBI.
New Orleans is one of the most heavily visited destinations in the United States and the incident came shortly before the city hosts a major college-level football game, known as the Sugar Bowl, featuring teams from the University of Georgia and Notre Dame.
"We are going to make sure that our routes and the Superdome are safe today for the game," Kirkpatrick said.
Policing had already been heavy over the New Year's, according to the city, as authorities braced for big crowds.
Louisiana's governor said people should stay away from the French Quarter because of the investigation into the attack.
Governor Jeff Landry posted on the social media platform X that authorities face "a fluid situation" as they investigate.
Landry posted, "We recognize that there are tourists around us, and we urge all to avoid the French Quarter as this is an active investigation."
Later on, during a news briefing on the situation, Landry declared a state of emergency to allow officials "to bring all of the resources necessary to get this city safe."
The driver was identified by the FBI as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas, and may have been acting in concert with others, the officials also said.
The suspect was believed to be a U.S. Army veteran.
"What I can tell you is that the person was an army veteran, we believe he was honorably discharged but we are working through this process to figure out all this information," said FBI's special agent Duncan at a news conference.
