It was the early hours of New Year’s Day and Bourbon Street, in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter, was bustling.
Revellers were spilling out from bars and clubs in the neon-lit street, having rung in 2025, when a white pickup truck ploughed into a large crowd, killing 10 and injuring dozens.
Whit Davis and his friends were in a bar in Bourbon Street when the attack unfolded.
“People started running and getting under tables like it was an active shooter drill,” he told the BBC.
Jim and Nicole Mowrer watched the truck slam through a barrier as it sped down Bourbon Street.
The pair hid in an alcove and heard gunshots ring out as police ran towards the suspect.
A hotel worker nearby told the BBC’s US partner CBS news he had been closing down for the night when he heard the commotion outside.
“When we looked out the window we noticed there was a lot of bodies lying on the ground,” he said. “The truck was speeding away.”
“I immediately ran downstairs to see if there were some people I can help out. “There were some people we put into the hotel for assistance and it was just you know… the scene was just horrific.”
The truck crashed further up the street before the driver began shooting at officers, the police said.
Two officers were shot but are in a “stable” condition, officials said. The FBI confirmed the driver of the truck was dead.
The police held Whit Davis and his friends in the bar while the scene was secured.
“When we were finally allowed to leave, we were walking past dead and injured bodies all over the street,” Mr Davis said.
“Everyone was just completely in shock.”
When Nicole and Jim Mowrer left the alcove they had hidden in, they saw “several people who had been hit”.
The pair tried to help them but realised they were dead.
Images from the scene show Bourbon Street deserted and bodies lying on the ground.
At a morning news conference New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said the driver of the truck was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did”.
The FBI has said it is investigating the incident as an “act of terrorism”.
FBI Special Agent Althea Duncan, who is leading the investigation, said an improvised explosive device was found at the scene and they were working on confirming whether it was “viable”.
