Real life hits the city of New Orleans in the early morning hours of Wednesday. The Sugar Bowl, which was scheduled to take place at the Superdome, has been postponed and will not be played Wednesday night.
Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley stated at a press conference that the game will be moved to Thursday at 4:00 p.m. ET, in the aftermath of the attack and carnage that killed at least 10 people and injured dozens more early Wednesday morning on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The game will be heard on 730 The Game beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.
A man allegedly drove his vehicle into a crowd of people at 3:15 a.m. while firing gun shots into the crowd. The suspect was shot and killed by New Orleans police officers after he allegedly shot at them. The FBI identified the suspect in a release Wednesday afternoon and said other explosive devices had been located in the historic French Quarter. Explosive devices were also allegedly found at the scene of the attack, which is being investigated thoroughly as an act of terrorism.
“He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” New Orleans Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said. “It was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he could.”
The subject has been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas. He was driving a Ford pickup truck, which appears to have been rented, and it is being investigated, trying to confirm how the subject came into possession of the vehicle.
An ISIS flag was found in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.
Weapons and a potential improvised explosive device (IED) were located in the subject’s vehicle. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter.
The FBI’s special agent bomb technicians are working in conjunction with their law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are active, and they will work to render those devices safe.
The University of Georgia announced Wednesday that a UGA student was among those injured.
“At this point, we have learned that a University of Georgia student was critically injured in the attack and is receiving medical treatment,” UGA president Jere Morehead said in a statement. “I have spoken to the student’s family and shared my concern, support and well wishes on behalf of the entire UGA community. I would like to express my gratitude to all the first responders who moved so quickly to help those affected by this senseless act of violence, as well as to the medical personnel who are caring for the injured.”
The game was already set to be the last of four College Football Playoff quarterfinals. The winner of the game will play Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl on Wednesday, January 8. Hundley said the game had been postponed 24 hours; it was originally scheduled to get underway at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN, the ‘World Wide Leader in Sports’. According to ESPN’s college football reporter Pete Thamel, talks are currently taking place to potentially move up the game time. As it stands, Penn State is now set to have a two-day rest advantage and the winner of the Sugar Bowl will have less than a week to prepare for the semifinal.
The Caesars Superdome, the site of the Sugar Bowl and the home of the New Orleans Saints, is scheduled to host Super Bowl LIX on February 9. The NFL released a statement Wednesday afternoon about the attack.
In preparation for the Super Bowl, protective bollards to prevent traffic from entering the iconic Bourbon Street were being replaced and local news affiliate WDSU spoke to eye witnesses who said they were not in place over New Year’s Eve and early New Year’s Day. Orleans Parish district attorney Jason Williams said local officials were investigating if barricades were still up at the time of the attack.
The White House said 46th President Joe Biden had been briefed on the attack, and the Justice Department said Attorney General Merrick Garland was also briefed.
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday,” Biden said in a statement. “There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”
