New Orleans New Year's Day ramming is the latest attack to use a vehicle as a deadly weapon
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Police say a person who drove a pickup truck at high speed into a crowd of people celebrating the new year in New Orleans early Wednesday was hell-bent on creating carnage. While a motive for the attack that killed at least 10 people has yet to be revealed, the FBI is investigating it as a terrorist act.
Several such attacks have taken place over the past two decades, some inspired by extremist politics and others blamed on mental illness or misogyny. What authorities call “vehicle as a weapon attacks” have reshaped cities around the world, with planners erecting concrete barriers around public spaces and building anti-vehicle obstacles in new developments.
Here are the details of some major vehicle attacks:. NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 1, 2025 — At least 10 people are killed and dozens are injured after a driver rams a vehicle into a crowd of pedestrians in New Orleans’ bustling French Quarter district at 3:15 a.m. on New Year's Day. The suspect is killed in a firefight with police, and the FBI says at least one improvised explosive device has been found on the scene.
MAGDEBURG, Germany, Dec. 20. 2024 — At least five people are killed and more than 200 are injured when a car slams into a Christmas market in eastern Germany. Police arrest a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who has renounced Islam and supports the far-right AfD party.
ZHUHAI, China, Nov. 11, 2024 — A 62-year-old driver rams his car into people exercising at a sports complex in southern China, killing 35, in the country’s deadliest attack in years. Authorities say the suspect is upset about his divorce. He pleads guilty to endangering public safety by dangerous means and is sentenced to death.
