Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Bourbon Street Returns to Life After Deadly Attack
d8a347b41db1ddee634e2d67d08798c102ef09ac
By The New York Times
Published 1 month ago on
January 3, 2025

A woman on Bienville Street looks into Bourbon Street next to a barricade with a lifting face, designed to block vehicle traffic, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. A man “trying to run over as many people as he possibly could” rammed a pickup into celebrating crowds on Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing at least 10 people and injuring about 35 others before dying in a shootout with police officers, officials said. (Edmund D. Fountain/The New York Times)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NEW ORLEANS — After Bourbon Street reopened Thursday afternoon, crowds returned to the area that was a horrific crime scene just a day earlier. Musicians went back to their usual corners in the French Quarter and resumed playing, and bars were buzzing again.

There was little trace of the carnage that unfolded as a U.S. Army veteran drove a pickup into revelers in the early hours of New Year’s Day — except for a small memorial with flowers on the corner of Bourbon and Canal streets, where the attack occurred. The sidewalk next to it was adorned with Mardi Gras beads, a teddy bear and an empty bottle of tequila. A woman burned sage nearby. A drummer stopped his music when he passed.

On Thursday, many in the area had a story to share about the attack that killed 14 and injured dozens, based on what they witnessed themselves or what they heard from someone who did.

Inside the bar Daiquiris Delight Shop, 15 flavors were swirling in the frozen drink machines as Charles Wandfluh, a co-owner, told two customers about what he saw that night, when the attacker’s truck came to a stop right outside the bar.

“I don’t know that the magnitude of the whole thing really sets in yet,” said Wandfluh, 56.

Law Enforcement Roamed Area, Blocking Vehicle Traffic

Law enforcement officials still roamed the area, with the Louisiana State Police stationed at intersections to block vehicle traffic from Bourbon Street and a Homeland Security Investigations armored vehicle parked on Canal Street. A few people in FBI jackets walked the street.

Scott Miller and Tammy Blayney, who were visiting from California, were relieved that Bourbon Street had returned to life. The previous day had been “very eerie,” said Miller, 60,. Now, they joined the crowd of people listening and dancing as Da One Way Brass Band played.

The band played “I’ll Fly Away,” a hymn that is a staple of New Orleans jazz funerals, in honor of the victims of the attack, according to Tyronne Johnson, a tuba player and the band’s leader.

To Johnson, 26, Thursday felt like any other afternoon — aside from the ubiquitous reporters and the law enforcement officials walking past in camouflage and helmets.

His mother hadn’t wanted the players to come to the area, fearing the scene was still dangerous. But he insisted: Playing on Bourbon Street is what he does.

“I wake up looking forward to playing my horn for tourists,” he said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Isabelle Taft/Edmund D. Fountain
c. 2024 The New York Times Company

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Newsom Signs $50M Plan to Battle Trump Policies, Support Immigrants

DON'T MISS

Fresno Students Entering the Work World Need Your Help to ‘Dress the Part’

DON'T MISS

Hanford Shooting Leaves One Dead, Another in Critical Condition

DON'T MISS

Rabies Detected in Fresno, Reedley. Fresno County Urges Caution Around Wild, Stray Animals

DON'T MISS

Plane Located That Matches the One That Went Missing in Alaska With 10 Aboard; 3 Bodies Found

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He’s Revoking Biden’s Security Clearance in Payback Move

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Seek Public’s Help in Locating Missing 75-Year-Old Man

DON'T MISS

Fresno Students Walk Out of Class to Protest Deportations

DON'T MISS

State Department Lays out Plans for $7 Billion-Plus Arms Sale to Israel

DON'T MISS

Donation to Food Bank to Provide 1.3M Meals to Western Fresno County

UP NEXT

Fresno Students Entering the Work World Need Your Help to ‘Dress the Part’

UP NEXT

Hanford Shooting Leaves One Dead, Another in Critical Condition

UP NEXT

Rabies Detected in Fresno, Reedley. Fresno County Urges Caution Around Wild, Stray Animals

UP NEXT

Plane Located That Matches the One That Went Missing in Alaska With 10 Aboard; 3 Bodies Found

UP NEXT

Trump Says He’s Revoking Biden’s Security Clearance in Payback Move

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Seek Public’s Help in Locating Missing 75-Year-Old Man

UP NEXT

Fresno Students Walk Out of Class to Protest Deportations

UP NEXT

State Department Lays out Plans for $7 Billion-Plus Arms Sale to Israel

UP NEXT

Donation to Food Bank to Provide 1.3M Meals to Western Fresno County

UP NEXT

Fresno Mission Opens Second Thrift Store Supporting Homeless, Recovering Addicts

Rabies Detected in Fresno, Reedley. Fresno County Urges Caution Around Wild, Stray Animals

3 hours ago

Plane Located That Matches the One That Went Missing in Alaska With 10 Aboard; 3 Bodies Found

4 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Revoking Biden’s Security Clearance in Payback Move

4 hours ago

Fresno Police Seek Public’s Help in Locating Missing 75-Year-Old Man

4 hours ago

Fresno Students Walk Out of Class to Protest Deportations

4 hours ago

State Department Lays out Plans for $7 Billion-Plus Arms Sale to Israel

4 hours ago

Donation to Food Bank to Provide 1.3M Meals to Western Fresno County

4 hours ago

Fresno Mission Opens Second Thrift Store Supporting Homeless, Recovering Addicts

5 hours ago

Judge Blocks Trump From Placing 2,200 USAID Workers on Paid Leave

5 hours ago

Alaska Legislature Asks Trump to Retain Denali’s Name

6 hours ago

Newsom Signs $50M Plan to Battle Trump Policies, Support Immigrants

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed laws Friday setting aside $50 million to help the state protect its policies from c...

3 hours ago

FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom waits for President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump to step off Air Force One upon their arrival at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
3 hours ago

Newsom Signs $50M Plan to Battle Trump Policies, Support Immigrants

3 hours ago

Fresno Students Entering the Work World Need Your Help to ‘Dress the Part’

Hanford police arrested a suspect in a fatal shooting outside an In-N-Out, believed to be linked to an illegal drug transaction. (Hanford PD)
3 hours ago

Hanford Shooting Leaves One Dead, Another in Critical Condition

3 hours ago

Rabies Detected in Fresno, Reedley. Fresno County Urges Caution Around Wild, Stray Animals

Ice is visible in the Bering Sea Jan. 22, 2020, as seen from a small plane airplane near the western Alaska coast. (AP File)
4 hours ago

Plane Located That Matches the One That Went Missing in Alaska With 10 Aboard; 3 Bodies Found

President Donald Trump smiles as he arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla., Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP/Ben Curtis)
4 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Revoking Biden’s Security Clearance in Payback Move

Fresno police are searching for Tommy Savala, 75, who was last seen Thursday morning near Simpson Avenue and North Fresno Street. (Fresno PD)
4 hours ago

Fresno Police Seek Public’s Help in Locating Missing 75-Year-Old Man

McLane and Duncan Polytechnical high school students walked out Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, to protest deportations, marching down Cedar Avenue. (GV Wire/Eric Martinez)
4 hours ago

Fresno Students Walk Out of Class to Protest Deportations

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend