Islamic State-inspired driver expressed desire to kill before deadly New Orleans rampage, Biden says
CTV
A U.S. Army veteran driving a pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group wrought carnage on New Orleans' raucous New Year's celebration, killing 15 people as he steered around a police blockade and slammed into revellers before being shot dead by police.
A U.S. Army veteran driving a pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group wrought carnage on New Orleans’ raucous New Year’s celebration, killing 15 people as he steered around a police blockade and slammed into revellers before being shot dead by police.
The FBI said it was investigating the attack early Wednesday as a terrorist act and did not believe the driver acted alone. Investigators found guns and what appeared to be an improvised explosive device in the vehicle, along with other devices elsewhere in the city’s famed French Quarter.
President Joe Biden said Wednesday evening that the FBI found videos that the driver had posted to social media hours before the attack in which he said he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressed a desire to kill.
The rampage turned festive Bourbon Street into a macabre mayhem of maimed victims, bloodied bodies and pedestrians fleeing for safety inside nightclubs and restaurants. In addition to the dead, dozens of people were hurt. A college football playoff game at the nearby Superdome was postponed until Thursday.
Zion Parsons, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi, said he saw the truck “barreling through, throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air.”
“Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering,” said Parsons, whose friend Nikyra Dedeaux was among the people killed.
“This is not just an act of terrorism. This is evil,” New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said.
Several areas in midwestern Ontario have had a snow squall watch upgraded to a snow squall warning.
A Nova Scotia community is mourning the loss of two of its members after they were shot and killed in Halifax on New Year’s Eve.
Ontario college students could soon see their winter semester cut short as the union representing faculty at the province’s 24 public colleges could walk off the job as early as Thursday next week.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was back in Ottawa today, but having yet to signal he's ready to address the snowballing resignation calls, the Liberal caucus' regional chairs called a meeting today to discuss next steps.
A Calgary woman is struggling to return home after her husband died while diving in Mexico, leaving her stranded and facing financial hardship.
New Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi says he is aiming to join the legislature to "go head-to-head" with Premier Danielle Smith.
One person was killed in a crash on northbound Crowchild Trail early Friday morning.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is back in Ottawa today, but with him yet to signal he's ready to address the snowballing resignation calls, the Liberal caucus' regional chairs have called a meeting today to discuss next steps.
A 63-year-old woman is dead after the car she was driving collided with a truck on southern Vancouver Island.
The Guelph Police Service is investigating after three people made off with $2,700 worth of alcohol from a business on Thursday.
It was a warmer-than-usual New Year's Day in Montreal, with temperatures hovering just above freezing, but Environment and Climate Change Canada is predicting that colder temperatures are here to stay as we kick off 2025.