from one side to the other. that's actually a good point. that's actually a good point. that the truck was not actually weaving, it did not have to come the roads are narrow enough that it could just drive straight. another thing that makes it especially scary is that it makes it especially scary is thatitis makes it especially scary is that it is new year's eve and bourbon street is a very lively area. there is a lot of music coming out of the nightclubs and the people i spoke with mentioned that a lot of people probably could not even hear what was happening behind them because of the loud music so it may have taken them completely by surprise. did may have taken them completely by surprise-— by surprise. did you get any idea as to — by surprise. did you get any idea as to how _ by surprise. did you get any idea as to how that - by surprise. did you get any idea as to how that truck i by surprise. did you get any i idea as to how that truck came to a halt? we have seen initial pictures of the bonnet crumpled up pictures of the bonnet crumpled up towards the rins screen, how did it stop? == up towards the rins screen, how did it step?— did it stop? -- windscreen. a crash. did it stop? -- windscreen. a crash- it _ did it stop? -- windscreen. a crash. it came _ did it stop? -- windscreen. a crash. it came to _ did it stop? -- windscreen. a crash. it came to a _ did it stop? -- windscreen. a crash. it came to a halt - crash. it came to a halt because a crash. at that moment the driver came out of the truck and exchanged fire with the police officers and police fired back and that is when he was shot and killed. you

fired back and that is when he was shot and killed.— was shot and killed. you are speculating _ was shot and killed. you are speculating on _ was shot and killed. you are speculating on motive - was shot and killed. you are speculating on motive and i | speculating on motive and i didn't see but why would donald trump as a statement like that, is there some speculation as to this persons identity? at is there some speculation as to this persons identity?— this persons identity? at this oint this persons identity? at this point there — this persons identity? at this point there is _ this persons identity? at this point there is not. _ this persons identity? at this point there is not. we - this persons identity? at this point there is not. we know. this persons identity? at this| point there is not. we know it was intentional, the new orleans superintendent of the police said this was not a dui and i noticed you played the clip of her saying, that he was hell bent on causing this carnage. so we know this was an intentional act but we did not know anything about who this person is or why he did at this point. there is a press conference coming up and i'm sure there will be press conferences throughout the day and hopefully one of those who will learn a little bit more especially with the fbi investigating it as a potential act of terror and hopefully we will know more soon. fiur will know more soon. our reporter _ will know more soon. our reporter was _ will know more soon. our reporter wasjust - will know more soon. our reporter was just telling us that they were in the process of upgrading security in the city. it is a party city and well known for mardi gras anyone who knows the french quarter knows it is a great place to be for a night out.

but do you feel with hindsight that there is not enough protection for people who were out on the streets? band protection for people who were out on the streets?— out on the streets? and they were in the _ out on the streets? and they were in the process - out on the streets? and they were in the process or- out on the streets? and they were in the process or there | were in the process or there were in the process or there were plans to install a new bollards in the area. this is a walking area. cars can drive the french quarter and even parts of bourbon street, but is largely more a walking nightlife area. so there were temporary barricades and set up, but a temporary barricades and set up, buta pick—up temporary barricades and set up, but a pick—up truck can crash through those. if there were bollards in place a could have potentially either prevented or at least reduce the amount of damage as to what has happened. the amount of damage as to what has happened-— has happened. reporter drew hawkins speaking _ has happened. reporter drew hawkins speaking to - has happened. reporter drew hawkins speaking to my - colleague earlier. reaction to all of this is coming in from across the globe. a statement from french president emmanuel macron. he said, "new orleans, so dear to the hearts of the french, has been struck by terrorism. our thoughts are with the families of the victims

and the injured, as well as with the american people, whose sorrow we share." michael wallace is a professor and programme director in emergency and security studies at tulane university, a private research institution in new orleans, louisiana. we asked him why there is this confusion about whether to characterise the incident as terrorism. law enforcement does not like to jump to conclusions. the first reports on everything ago to probably be wrong, so they are probably trying to figure out who this person is, why he did this, what clues did he leave, what social media did he have, what was a flight it was on the back that actually is in a flag? black does indicate islamic state. you clearly have a lot of these things that could indicate something, but again could not. so law enforcement is very hesitant about calling something either domestic terrorism or foreign terrorism. politicians use he will use the word terrorism a little bit more freely.

law enforcement, they usually want to get their investigation and then make a decision like that. the fact that the fbi is a lead agency again indicates that this with the public a terrorist attack to me just because the fbi is the lead agency in the united states for investigating terror acts. and again from what i've seen so far and again for investigating terror acts. and again from what i've seen so far and again there are reports, i would suspect this was a lone wolf style attack and from out of state. and with a long gun. we are getting reports on local media in new orleans that the sugar bowl college football game is being postponed. we have heard a number of people describe to us here at bbc news how that would be a big step

and highly unusualfor how that would be a big step and highly unusual for such an event. a big event, it is couege event. a big event, it is college football as i mentioned, highly unusual to have something like that attended by tens of thousand people postponed. but we cannot absolutely confirm that. we are getting some local media reports that it is being postponed and of course we endeavour to get you a confirmation on that as soon as possible. if it is, it tells you about the concerns of the fbi who are working to try to establish whether the suspect was acting as an individual, a so—called lone wolf or if there was a wider conspiracy here. let me refer you to the fbi statement which came to us within the last hour. confirming that they are investigating this as an act of terrorism and saying that they are, aggressively running down all leads to identify any possible associates of the suspect who has been identified

as 42—year—old shamsud din jabbar, a us citizen from texas. they say that an ices flag was located in the pick—up truck which he had rented and that the fbi is working to determine his potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organisations. they also set the weapons and a potential ie team were located in the pick—up truck and other potential iuds were located in the french quarter we know that the french quarter we know that the suspect was also wearing body armour so the fbi special agent bob technicians and other law enforcement partners are looking at whether any of these devices are viable and working to render them safe if they are. we heard our reporter on the scene saying she heard a number of controlled explosions taking place. we have also heard today from local business owners affected by the cordons in that central and famous part

of new orleans. earlier my colleague christian earlier, my colleague christian fraser spoke with matthew ahearn from st pat's irish coffee house in new orleans. it's just around the corner from where the incident took place. we are inside the perimeter that's been sealed off. they won't even tell us. nobody can walk a bit in the street. they are not letting any of the businesses be open. i assume people are in their houses are stuck, but they have shutdown all activity. have you spoken to any of your employees or anybody local who was there last night? no, most locals like us no better than the be down here in the middle of the night on new year's eve. yeah, no, none of our employees were down here. we were all home. we closed early. can you reflect on what has happened in the security

situation in the french quarter and do you think questions should be asked about how to the security was? no, actually the security down here in new orleans has improved dramatically. it is something that we have been a lot of proud of that there has been a lot of work done with the state troopers and the new orleans concert who presented our amazing it is really a modern miracle if you come do it for mardi gras or these kind of events that you had this many people out in the street having fun and they are all being respectful and behaving and you've got good crowd control. it's reallyjust an amazing thing to see. and new orleans is a safe city. you've got specific incidents obviously that you hear about this kind of crime and crime type activity, but it's really a safe city and its very family—oriented and people like ourselves who have been down here for generations. so it's really heartbreaking and very undeserved that we would get this type of mayhem and

incident. you don't shootings, you don't get brawls, you don't get street fights and all these things that you would expect to get, or maybe have had in the past and that we get that. i mean, what the hell was that? so how do you protect against that? a lot of the streets, they do have barricades up so they could take precautions the type of thing but it's a huge neighbourhood. it's a very, very big neighbourhood and then they've got huge police presence down here. so it is really undeserved and demoralising that we have kind of not deserving this is a community, to be honest. just to recap in the last few minutes we have been hearing that the big college football game to take place in new orleans there later in the city may be postponed according to local media reports. we are awaiting confirmation of that. that would be a huge deal for the city. tens of thousand people are there to see it but it suggests and tells us

something of the concern of which the fbi is treating this. they are the lead agency investigating this. a reminder also that we are expecting an updated news conference that happened in the next hour. of course the timings on these things sometimes shift, but we will bring it to you when it happens live so stay with us here on bbc news for all of the latest on this developing story. you are watching bbc news. hello there. there's no time to catch our breath for the start of the weather this new year because we've replaced wet and windy weather by somewhat colder conditions. you'll really notice the difference with the feel. first thing tomorrow morning, a cold and frosty start for most of us, but there will be some sunshine. this weather front might prevent temperatures from falling below freezing across the far south—east, but cold arctic air taking over and so temperatures falling away.

in sheltered rural glens of scotland, we could see temperatures as low as —7 first thing thursday morning. that'll be accompanied by some wintry snow showers here. a wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow running down through east coasts of england. elsewhere, a lot of sunshine coming through. despite a chilly story, it will be a relatively pleasant day. top temperatures generally between 2—5 celsius. now, as we move out of thursday into friday, we've still got that cold arctic air with us. this weather front here, if anything, will enhance a few showers, but it's going to be a bitterly cold start on friday morning. a widespread hard frost right across the country. temperatures below freezing, but again a dry, relatively sunny one for some. there'll be a few scattered showers moving through northern ireland, down through the irish sea and into the cheshire gap. and also some showers running down through north sea coasts, but lengthy spells of sunshine further inland. temperatures again ranging from 1—5 celsius. now, as we move out of friday into saturday, fog could be an issue first thing in the morning, particularly across parts of england

and wales, some of it dense and freezing in places. best of the sunshine out to the east as we will see conditions start to cloud over from the south and west. it's still going to be a cold day, but we're starting to see the first signs of a change coming. and that's this weather front that's expected to arrive during saturday. now, of course, as it bumps into that bitterly cold air that we've got in place that we've got in place on the leading edge, on the leading edge, there is the potential there is the potential for some significant snow. for some significant snow. a lot of uncertainty a lot of uncertainty where these frontal systems where these frontal systems will be sitting and how much will be sitting and how much snow, but it's likely we'll see snow, but it's likely we'll see some snow for a time, some snow for a time, rain behind it across rain behind it across england and wales. england and wales. milder air here, but we keep milder air here, but we keep that cold air further north. that cold air further north. so, for many of you who've so, for many of you who've had an extended holiday had an extended holiday from that new year period from that new year period and are travelling this and are travelling this weekend, keep abreast weekend, keep abreast of the forecast. of the forecast. it could be tricky for some. it could be tricky for some.

following the attack. live from london, live from london, this is bbc news. this is bbc news. ten people are killed after ten people are killed after a vehicle drives into a large a vehicle drives into a large crowd in new orleans. the suspect has been named as 42—year—old shamsud din jabbar. the fbi says an is flag was found in the vehicle. he was hell—bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did. local media reports the sugar bowl college football game has been postponed