Brett Eldredge – Season of Lights and Wonder

Blessings For the New Year

 

Terror Attack in New Orleans

People woke up this morning to horrific news that an individual drove a white Ford F-150 drove onto Bourbon Street (from Canal Street) intentionally running down pedestrians and shooting a firearm out the window after he crashed his vehicle to a stop.  At this time, ten people are reported dead with over 30 others injured (including two police officers).  Multiple officers opened fire on the suspect after he exited his vehicle in full body armor.  Officers were forced to shoot the suspect in the head to stop the attack, and he is believed to have died on the scene.  Explosive devices that did not detonate were later found at the crash site by investigators. There are still dead bodies laying on Bourbon street waiting to be removed, as authorities are treating that block of Bourbon Street as an active crime scene. The French Quarter remains incredibly sombre, in stark contrast to the New Year's celebrations and the expected activities scheduled to take place at the Sugar Bowl later tonight. Victims have been taken to the University Medical Center, Touro Hospital, Ochsner Medical Center (in Jefferson), Ochsner Baptist, East Jefferson General Hospital, and the LCMC Health Center for treatment.

The incident occurred at approximately 3:15 am Central time.  Witnesses say that metal barriers meant to prevent cars from driving down that particular section of road were not in place. According to city's website, bollards on Bourbon Street had been removed (reportedly in November) and were expected to be replaced within a three to four-week window, leading up the Super Bowl next February.  The F-150 truck that was used in the attack was a vehicle rented through the Turo app.  The truck's owner told ABC News that he rented the truck to an individual through Turo and that he is currently talking to the FBI.  The Associated Press reported that authorities found guns and pipe bombs in the vehicle, according to a Louisiana State Police bulletin the outlet obtained. The bulletin also described devices that were concealed inside coolers and wired for remote detonation. A remote control was also discovered in the vehicle.

MSNBC just identified the suspect on air as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, (date of birth: October 26, 1982).  The vehicle had a flagpole mounted on its trailer hitch, and there have been extensive crowd-sourced efforts to identify the nature of the flag in order to provide some kind of motive or rationale for the attack.  The FBI has been designated the lead agency on the investigation, and have officially designated it as a "terrorist attack."   A press conference was held at 8 am eastern time, but authorities did not take questions.  A press conference scheduled for 12 noon eastern time was unexpectedly delayed two hours.  

In a statement on the tragedy, President-elect Trump said, :"When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the fake news media, but it turned out to be true."   President Biden released a statement saying, "My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday. There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities."  Biden added that he is "grateful for the brave and swift response of local law enforcement in preventing even greater death and injury".

Families of the victims seeking reunification with loved ones are instructed to go to the  Conference Center of the University Medical Center (UMC) on the first floor, across from Tower Two, which is the midpoint of the hospital.

 

Happy New Year!