It was the early morning on New Year’s Day in New Orleans. Crowds filled the iconic Bourbon Street, celebrating the New Year 2025. Known for its vibrant atmosphere, Bourbon Street is one of the premier destinations in the U.S. for large-scale New Year’s celebrations and is famously home to the annual Mardi Gras parade.
At 3:15 a.m., just hours before the Sugar Bowl – a highly anticipated college football game that draws over 80,000 attendees and millions of television viewers – the festive atmosphere turned into a scene of horror. A white pickup truck barreled into the unsuspecting crowd, killing 10 people and injuring 30 others.
| Read earlier Report: New Year Horror: Terror Attack at New Orleans in NY leaves 10 dead |
The driver, described as “hell-bent on carnage,” continued his rampage until he exited the vehicle and opened fire on police officers. The police returned fire and shot dead the attacker.
This tragic event is not an isolated incident. Terrorists have weaponized vehicles in their attacks, sowing destruction across the globe.
Past incidents when vehicles weaponised for carnage
The New Orleans attack came just 10 days after a Saudi national drove a car into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing five and injuring 200.
German authorities were perplexed by the attack, as the suspect, a doctor, had previously made anti-Islamist statements. They speculated that he might have been suffering from mental illness.
Vehicle-based attacks have left devastating effects in recent years. In 2016, an Islamist terrorist drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people.
That same year, a man inspired by the Islamic State killed 86 people in Nice, France, by plowing through a crowd.
In the United States, vehicle attacks have also caused significant harm. In Charlottesville, Virginia, a white supremacist drove a car into a civil rights protest in 2017, killing one person and injuring 35 others.
More recently, a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, was attacked by a driver linked to the anti-government Sovereign Citizen Movement, resulting in six deaths and 62 injuries.
After the New Orleans tragedy, President Joe Biden condemned the attack as “horrific” and “utterly unjustifiable.” President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to take office in three weeks, called the act “pure evil.” (Edited)
