From New York Times, I'm Michael Barrow. This is the Daily.

A mere three hours into 2025, terrorism struck in downtown New Orleans.

Today, what we know about the attack, the man who carried it out, and the victims.

I spoke with my colleagues, Nicholas Bogle-Purros, Mike Baker, and Christina Morales.

It's Friday, January 3rd.

Lauren and Meg, we're just out here dancing through life, enjoying the final hours of 2024.

There are thousands that have chosen.

Nick, I wonder if you can set the scene for us in the French quarter of New Orleans on New Year's Eve.

Yeah, this is a New Year's Eve in New Orleans.

It's a place where thousands of people come every year to celebrate the new year, to drink all night, to be with their friends, to stay out late, to roam around the streets and go from bar to bar. And that's exactly what people were doing this New Year's Eve, like every year. And at the heart of the French quarter is

Bourbon Street. And it is one of the most famous streets in New Orleans, if not the country.

And even at 3 a.m., especially on New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, there are people on the sidewalks

under these neon signs,

getting an Uber or figuring out their next move.

And then around 315, all of that changes.

It was at that time that a white pickup truck was driving to this area.

Normally in this area, there are these metal barricades or ballards.

In this case, there's a lot of questions about whether those were missing

because the city has undertaken this renovation process of the bollards.

What we know is that what was blocking the street was a police car

that the truck was able to speed around by seemingly going up onto the sidewalk where there was

a big group of people and then started accelerating down Bourbon Street extremely fast.

...