NEW ORLEANS (AP/Gray News) — A driver behind the wheel of a pickup truck rammed into a crowd of New Orleans revelers on Bourbon Street early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people in what the FBI is investigating as an act of terrorism.

After the vehicle stopped, the driver emerged from the truck and opened fire on responding officers, New Orleans police said.

The driver, Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, was killed.

Victims are beginning to be identified. The Greater New Orleans Foundation has started a donation fund for their families.

Nikyra Dedeaux, 18

A Mississippi man who was celebrating New Year’s Eve in New Orleans says his friend who dreamed of becoming a nurse was among the people killed in an attack on Bourbon Street.

Zion Parsons, 18, said a vehicle suddenly appeared and he watched it hit his friend, 18-year-old Nikyra Dedeaux.

Parsons described the crowd scattering and the gruesome aftermath.

“Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering,” Parsons said.

He said he watched as authorities put a tarp over Dedeaux’s body. He later called Dedeaux’s family to tell them what had happened.

“I hadn’t had time to cry up until I called her mother and she asked me, ‘Where’s my baby’,” Parsons said. “That broke me.”

Reggie Hunter, 37

Reggie Hunter, a 37-year-old father of two from Baton Rouge, was also among those victims killed, the family confirms to WVUE.

Hunter headed to Bourbon Street on a whim once he got off work to bring in the new year with a cousin, according to another cousin, Shirell Jackson.

Hunter and his cousin were both hit by a truck that was driven at a high rate of speed down Bourbon Street. Hunter died from his injuries. His cousin was among at least 35 people injured in the attack.

Tiger Bech, 27

Tiger Bech, a 27-year-old from Lafayette, was also killed in the attack, according to KLFY.

Bech was taken to a New Orleans hospital where he died late Wednesday morning, according to Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St. Thomas More Catholic High School.

Bech was a former star football player at the school and later went on to play college football at Princeton, where he graduated in 2021.

He is also the older brother of the former LSU player, Jack Bech.

Nicole Perez, late 20s

Nicole Perez was a single mother to a 4-year-old son working hard to make life better for her family when she was killed in the New Orleans truck attack, according to her employer.

Perez, who was in her late 20s, was recently promoted to manager at Kimmy’s Deli in Metarie, Louisiana, and “was really excited about it,” deli owner Kimberly Usher said in a phone interview with AP. Usher confirmed Perez’s death through her sister, who also works for her.

Usher said Perez would walk in the morning to the deli, which opened at breakfast time, and would ask lots of questions about the business side of the operations. She also was permitted to bring her son, Melo, to work, where during breaks she taught him basic learning skills.

“She was a really good mom,” said Usher, who started a GoFundMe account to cover Perez’s burial costs and to help with expenses for her son that “he will need to transition into a new living situation,” the donation request says.

Kareem Bawadi

Kareem Bawadi, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was among the victims killed during the New Year’s Day terrorist attack, according to WAFB.

Bawadi was a 2024 graduate of Episcopal High School, in Baton Rouge.

Hubert Gauthreaux, 21

A spokesperson for Archbishop Shaw High School confirmed that 21-year-old Hubert Gauthreaux was killed in the attack. He graduated from the school in 2021, WVUE reports.

He was remembered as a bright and promising young man.

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The story has been corrected to change Tiger Bech’s age from 28 to 27.

Copyright 2025 Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.