us media is reporting that the suspect is dead. what it is right now, is they're improvised explosive devices that was found, and we are working on confirming if this is a viable device or not. lam i am christian fraser, welcome to the programme. we continue our coverage from the us city of new orleans where authorities have confirmed ten people have been killed and at least 35 people are in local hospitals after a deliberate attack in a pick—up truck. authorities told reporters the truck was intentionally driven into a crowd in the tourist area of bourbon street before its driver exchanged shots with police, two of whom were injured.

the attack happened at 3:15am on new year's day on bourbon street. police superintendent anne kirkpatrick said the driver was "trying to run over as many people as he could". and was "hellbent on creating the damage and carnage that he did". these are recorded pictures. now you can see the yellow tape. this is the live scene. an eight—block cordon has been set up around the scene with the fbi taking over the investigation. afp has told us, quoting us media, saying the suspect was killed at the scene.

an fbi special agent, alathea duncan, said improvised explosive devices had been found at the scene but agents were confirming if they were viable. in the back of a pick—up truck there could be all sorts of items. social media footage, which appears to have been filmed today showed numerous shots exchanged and multiple people on the ground with injuries, as well as others running from the area. i have seen some of the footage and it is quite shocking, appears to have been filmed from balconies above bourbon street. there are people lying on the ground with injuries and many people running from the area. new orleans is one of the major cities in the southern us state of louisiana. particularly busy at this time of year, the new year events and the sugar bowl football game between the georgia bulldogs and notre dame, so a

lot of people would have been in the city, particularly at this part of the city. the incident happened on the corner of bourbon street and canal street in the french quarter — which is a well—known nightlife and tourist hotspot filled with bars, clubs and restaurants and hotels. but the police said more local people than tourists were injured. that's what police are saying at this point. here you see some people walking away from the scene in the early hours of the scene in the early hours of the morning. many of those people, we are being told in the last few minutes, are not able to go back to their hotels. they would have been staying in that particular area so they have been out on the streets for most of the early hours of the morning. we have heard from the louisiana state governorjeff landry.

and the white house said in a statement: "the fbi is already on the ground supporting local law enforcement in the investigation and the president will continue to be briefed throughout the day." new orleans authorities say they'll provide an update at a second news conference in around three hours. we will take you live to that when we get it. our news correspondent sean dilley is in the newsroom with the latest on this. lots to go through from the press conference we have just had, and from us media outlets who say the suspect is dead. there were questions about the suspect because shots were exchanged. suspect because shots were exchanged-— exchanged. that's right will sto - exchanged. that's right will sto its exchanged. that's right will stop its fair _ exchanged. that's right will stop its fair to _ exchanged. that's right will stop its fair to say - exchanged. that's right will stop its fair to say that - exchanged. that's right will stop its fair to say that we i stop its fair to say that we know that because the chief anne kirkpatrick from the

police in new orleans had said that was the case. we know that around 3.15 this morning authorities were called after the pick—up truck driver had driven around barriers. he was, to quote the police chief, hell—bent on driving into the crowd. there is no question, she said, that this was a drunk driver or in any way an accident or anything other than completely intentional. it was striking during the news conference, with all the main players from public authorities there, an apparent contradiction between the mayor who had said it was clear that the city of new orleans was the victim of a terrorist attack in the early hours of the morning, and later the fbi, assistant special agent in charge, alessia duncan, saying it wasn't a terrorist attack. law enforcement agencies have said

they have a different definition of terrorism. i think you have done an amazing job of explaining some of the aftermath reality for the people in the eight blocks who are not being allowed back into their hotels in this very busy area. it's in the french quarter in bourbon street. to paint the picture as best we can, it is a very historic area, very busy. full of bars and restaurants. at that time in the morning you'd expect crowds to be very dense and deep. with the pick—up truck seeming to drive into the crowd, deliberately targeting people celebrating new year. and the witness accounts of the driver getting out and shooting towards the crowd. we know two police officers were shot, and we know they are two of around 35 or 36 people taken to hospital with injuries. around

ten people this morning had sadly died. we don't yet know the prognosis for people who are in hospital but clearly there injuries are serious enough for them to be in hospital and we will look for those details at around 3pm uk time, that's11am in new orleans. here is the attacker, what was he motivated by and what was he motivated by and what did authorities know about him? we caution against too much social media commentary on these things because, believe it or not, when horrific things happen they are subject to manipulated pictures and all sorts of information out there. anyone exposing themselves to the sorts of images that maybe we have to do as journalists sometimes, they are really not pleasant. if you don't have to look at it i would advise you steer clear. christian, you said they were fairly horrific scenes. ., ., , , ., scenes. indeed, not images you would want _ scenes. indeed, not images you would want to _ scenes. indeed, not images you would want to look _ scenes. indeed, not images you would want to look at. - scenes. indeed, not images you would want to look at. if - would want to look at. if you're able to avoid them. sean dilley, thank you for that. we

have had statements from both the mayor and fbi. this was the update they gave just a short time ago. first of all, we do know that the city of new orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack. that's all still under investigation. you'll hear more after me. however, i have been in direct contact with the white house, with governor landry, and, of course, a unified command who is present here. what i'm asking at this time are prayers for those who have lost their lives in the city of new orleans due to this tragedy. in addition to that, i'm asking the public to stay clear of eight blocks around bourbon street. stay clear from bourbon street, eight blocks around. very active.

and again, a unified command is in place right now. i'm going to ask chief kirkpatrick to give you an update. you're then going to hear from our agent in charge relative to the fbi. so at this time, chief kirkpatrick. thank you. good morning, everyone. so i'm going to give you as much of the information i possibly can. we are going to give you an update a couple of times today. so we will give you just the basics this morning, all right? we had this event started at about 3:15. it did involve a man driving a pick—up truck down bourbon street at a very fast pace. and it was very intentional behaviour. this man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could. it was not a dui situation. this is more complex

and more serious based on the information we have right now. with respect to numbers we have right now, and as you already know, this could change throughout the day, we do know that there are 26 injured people who are at umc hospital. we know we have four at turo, four at ochsner baptist, one at tulane. but even as i was walking out the door, i believe i have an unconfirmed additional people who have been taken to other area hospitals, possibly on the east side, but we will give you as many correct numbers as we can as the day progresses. it is a very tragic situation for me to tell you that we know we have ten people that this man killed on bourbon street. that is why we do not want

anyone on bourbon street today. wherever you see yellow tape, please do not violate this tape. this is in order to protect and stabilise the scene. we have information to a certain degree of the demographics of those who are in the hospital right now. we do not know at this point how many could be tourists versus locals, but from the information i have right now, it seems the majority are locals versus tourists. what i also can tell you is that this man, this perpetrator, he fired on our officers from his vehicle when he crashed his vehicle. two of our officers have been shot. they are stable and we will give you an update on them.

i have yet been able to go to the hospital. i will be leaving here for us to go visit our officers. we have called in every officer that we have. we have so much appreciated our partnerships who have also offered us staff. last night we had over 300 officers out here and because of the intentional mindset of this perpetrator who went around our barricades in order to conduct this. he was hell—bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did. because of the nature and the indices that we have on the scene, and we have enough

information that the fbi will be taking over this investigation. and with that, i am going to be asking, this is the assistant agent in charge, this is agent duncan, special agent duncan, and she has taken over this case on behalf of us and the fbi. as always, we will be in partnership with all of our partners. but, agent duncan, if you want to have a few words for me. thank you, ma'am. good morning. my name is alethea duncan. i'm the assistant special agent in charge for fbi new orleans. as chief kirkpatrick said, we'll be taking over the investigative lead for this event. this is not a terrorist event. what it is right now is they're improvised explosive devices that was found, and we are working on confirming if this is a viable device or not. as chief kirkpatrick said, we're asking everyone

to stay away from bourbon street, specifically from canal street to saint anne. that is my ask once again. stay away from bourbon street, canal street, all the way to saint anne until we can figure out what is going on. our goal is to provide you additional information at the 11:00am press conference. thank you so much and we will be in touch. i will say that we want our community and our visitors to continue enjoying... there's so much to enjoy about new orleans, and we are going to make sure that our routes and the superdome are safe today for the game. and yet we had this tragic event, and we're sorry again to everyone in our community, but we do want you to go about the day, as we say, _ just stay away from bourbon. that press conference finished in the last hour. let's speak to north america correspondent rowan bridge — he's following developments from washington. to pick up on us reports that the suspect is dead first of all. i the suspect is dead first of

all. . . . ., the suspect is dead first of all. .. . ., ., , all. i can confirm that they are. all. i can confirm that they are- to — all. i can confirm that they are. to read _ all. i can confirm that they are. to read a _ all. i can confirm that they are. to read a statement | all. i can confirm that they i are. to read a statement that has dropped in the last 15 seconds, the fbi have said they engaged with local law enforcement engaged with this person and they are now deceased. we can confirm the driver was killed at the scene by police. there were reports of gunfire between the sides. we have confirmation that the driver of the vehicle is now dead. ~ . ., ., dead. what we glean from the ress dead. what we glean from the press conference _ dead. what we glean from the press conference was - dead. what we glean from the press conference was that - dead. what we glean from the press conference was that it . press conference was that it was intentional. this was not a driving under influence situation, this was a man who was weaving down the road and trying to kill as many people as he could. he fired on officers from his vehicle. explain to me the legal point around terrorism. we had a situation with unitedhealthcare situation with unitedhealthca re gunmen situation with unitedhealthcare gunmen where he was charged on murder charges but subsequently charged with terrorism —related charges. how does this work in the united states? it is

charges. how does this work in the united states?— the united states? it is worth clari in: the united states? it is worth clarifying there _ the united states? it is worth clarifying there was _ the united states? it is worth clarifying there was some - clarifying there was some confusion at the news conference this morning about whether it was being treated as a terrorist incident or not. to quote you again the final one from the fbi statement, which has just been released. from the fbi statement, which hasjust been released. it from the fbi statement, which has just been released. it says we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism. it would appear the fbi are now treating this as a terrorist incident. that investigation is obviously ongoing. we expect more details in a news conference within the next two hours. i suspect we will get more details of around exactly what happened and how the investigation is progressing. it the investigation is progressing.- the investigation is huroressin. , progressing. it is inevitable that mines _ progressing. it is inevitable that mines will _ progressing. it is inevitable that mines will turn - progressing. it is inevitable that mines will turn back i progressing. it is inevitable that mines will turn back to germany on the attack on a christmas market. it is unusual in the united states for a vehicle to be used in this way. largely because weapons are so readily available.— readily available. yes, and what was _ readily available. yes, and what was clear _ readily available. yes, and what was clear was - readily available. yes, and what was clear was this i readily available. yes, and - what was clear was this person had decided that this would be the strategy they used. in a news conference we heard how

they deliberately drove around ballard is put in place to try to stop anyone doing something like this. clearly they targeted an area of the city they knew would be busy. bourbon street is the heart of the tourist area of new orleans. this was new year's eve into new year's day, a time when there would have been crowds on the street. also there was a major american football game due to take place in the city today that also would have brought extra crowds to the city. this person knew that this was an area that was going to have a lot of people in and they knew they could use this pick—up truck as a weapon if they really tried to. confirmation on the wires from the fbi as you are reporting, they are now investigating this as an act of terrorism, contrary to what we were told that the press conference. looking at the scenes of the initial investigation, this was such a big event, new year's eve and a big football event in new orleans today. 300 officers out last night. as part of the

initial investigation, they will be focusing on the vehicle. i'm told the drones were up last night so they will have a lot of information on how it came into the city and what its movements were. yes, and i suspect — what its movements were. yes, and i suspect also _ what its movements were. yes, and i suspect also cctv - what its movements were. yes, and i suspect also cctv footage | and i suspect also cctv footage of the area. if you look at for example, the unitedhealthcare example, the unitedhealthca re shooting example, the unitedhealthcare shooting in new york city, police were very able to establish the movements of their key suspect in the case because the city was covered in the cctv. new orleans is a large metropolitan area and i suspect it has quite a lot of cctv. many businesses in that area, a tourist area, will also i suspect have cctv 1552 00:18:44,525