News is coming in hot and fast about Wednesday morning’s terrorist attack on New Orleans’s famed Bourbon Street. We now know the name of the man who drove into the crowd of New Year’s revelers, and have footage of him driving around the barriers put up by the New Orleans Police Department to shield the partiers from possible attacks.
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Sadly, reports on the victims are also coming in.
The first victim to be named is Tiger Bech, 28, a football standout who played at Princeton University.
Former Princeton wide receiver Tiger Bech, an All-Ivy League performer, was identified as one of the victims of the mass truck attack in New Orleans. Bech is the older brother of Jack Bech, a standout wide receiver at TCU in 2024.
Tiger was taken to a New Orleans hospital with critical injuries from the attack before dying on Wednesday, according to Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St. Thomas More Catholic High School. Bech was 28.
Tiger Bech played football at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he earned a scholarship to play at Princeton. After graduating from Princeton, Bech worked as a trader for Seaport Global. His younger brother, Jack Bech, a star wide receiver at Texas Christian University, paid tribute to Tiger on X:
Love you always brother ! You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us ❤️ https://t.co/8sSFf564Mb
— Jack Bech (@jackbech7) January 1, 2025
Federal, state and local officials held a press conference this afternoon to share the latest details on the terrorist attack that is estimated to have killed 15, and injured scores of others who were ringing in the new year. RedState’s Susie Moore had the rundown:
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FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan spoke first, confirming the details already known, including the number killed and injured and the identity of the suspect. She confirmed the truck appeared to be rented and that there was an ISIS flag on the trailer hitch. She also confirmed that there were IEDs found and recovered from the vehicle and two other locations, and those have been rendered safe.
The key takeaway from Duncan (and other officials who spoke) was that they do not believe Jabbar acted alone.
NEW: Officials Hold Press Conference on Bourbon Street Attack, Don’t Believe Suspect Acted Alone
One of the key questions is why the security bollards designed to stop such an attack were not engaged on Tuesday night.
Mayor Cantrell explained that over 10 years ago, the city implemented an infrastructure project that included installing bollards on Bourbon St. Thereafter, issues with the bollards malfunctioning ensued. The New Orleans Police Department deemed them inefficient because they did not do what they were intended to do. Because the city is hosting the Super Bowl, they now have the resources to build in bollard replacement into the infrastructure package and have moved forward with it. The bollards were not up because they were near completion of the project.
Police Superintendent Kirkpatrick added that they had been aware of the bollard situation for a while and that they had vehicles and officers and other barriers in place where the bollards were not up, but that the suspect defeated those efforts by driving up onto the sidewalk and around them. In essence, “We had a plan, but the terrorist defeated it.”
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RedState will keep you informed as we learn more about the terror attack victims.
READ MORE:
WATCH: Video Shows How NOLA Attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar Entered Bourbon Street
Biden and Trump Issue Statements on the NOLA Terrorist Attack, and Hoo Boy, What a Difference
