At least 28 people were injured on Saturday evening after a pickup plowed into a crowd during a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, police said according to WDSU. New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman Ambria Washington says that “initial reports show so far that about a dozen people are in critical condition.” She says that number could increase as the investigation continues.
#mardigras Video Of Aftermath 21 people injured (several in critical condition) after car crashed into people during Endymion parade. pic.twitter.com/pTppanyYFv
— Brandi Saari (@brandilmelb) February 26, 2017
#mardigras MAN ARRESTED! for after car ploughs into crowd at Mardi Gras In New Orleans.Has Not been confirm yet Put Man might Been Drunk. pic.twitter.com/5xVZEI6tps
— Brandi Saari (@brandilmelb) February 26, 2017
#mardigras Update News On car ploughs into crowd at Mardi Gras In New Orleans 21People Have been injured pic.twitter.com/SRgqM9NiFH
— Brandi Saari (@brandilmelb) February 26, 2017
#mardigras Update News On car ploughs into crowd at Mardi Gras In New Orleans pic.twitter.com/vLmxBqNiOL
— Brandi Saari (@brandilmelb) February 26, 2017
#mardigras Police say 21 injured after vehicle drives into crowd during New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations pic.twitter.com/WkQwqLELij
— Brandi Saari (@brandilmelb) February 26, 2017
New Orleans police said the crash happened around 7 p.m. at Orleans and Carrollton avenues, where the Krewe of Endymion parade rolled through. According to CNN the driver is in police custody.
Police Chief Michael Harrison said it appeared the suspect, who was driving a pickup truck that hit two cars before running into the crowd, was likely highly intoxicated. None of the injuries was life-threatening and there were no known fatalities, a source with direct knowledge of the incident told CNN.
The CNN source said, “It appears to be a drunk driver,” and added there were no preliminary indications that it was a terrorism-related incident.
One woman at the scene told The New Orleans Advocate that a silver truck whisked by her just feet away as she was walking through the intersection. Carrie Kinsella said, “I felt a rush it was so fast.”
Twenty-year-old Kourtney McKinnis told the Advocate that the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done. “He was just kind of out of it,” she said.
The incident occurred near the intersection of Orleans and Carrollton Avenues where the Krewe of Endymion parade was underway.
Video from CNN affiliate WDSU showed a gray pickup truck that had run into a dump truck near the intersection.
Photo of scene at #neworleans #MardiGras #breaking. Via https://t.co/7mZX0FK9FI pic.twitter.com/xoyNOTOf5N
— Breaking Norfolk (@breakingnorfolk) February 26, 2017
Witnesses told the station that the pickup came down one of the streets and struck several cars before hitting people in the crowd watching the parade.
“I saw the gray truck flying down Carrollton Avenue,” a female witness told WDSU. “He sped up and he lost control and you could see was getting ready to turn and I knew he was going to run into all those people.”
