The city’s police department had already planned to deploy an additional 300 officers, along with Nola troopers, to manage the crowds. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry expressed his condolences, writing on X, “A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning. Please join Sharon and I in praying for all the victims and first responders on scene. I urge all near the scene to avoid the area.”
This tragedy follows closely on the heels of another recent horror. Just days ago, five people were killed and 205 injured when a doctor drove his car into crowds at a German Christmas market. Among the dead was a nine-year-old child. On December 20, 50-year-old Taleb al-Abdulmohsen drove his BMW into the thick of the revellers at the crowded market in Magdeburg, also claiming the lives of a mother of three and an elderly couple.