Ole Miss student injured in New Orleans attack

Published 11:02 am Thursday, January 2, 2025

An Ole Miss student was injured in the New Orleans terrorist attack on New Year’s Day, according to University of Mississippi Chancellor Glenn Boyce.

On Thursday morning, Boyce posted a message about the student on social media.

The student, who was not identified, was critically injured in the downtown New Orleans attack and is receiving medical care. Boyce did not elaborate on the student’s injuries.

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He said he spoke to the student’s mother to extend the University’s full support and told the family they were in the campus community’s thoughts.

“We join the New Orleans community in grief,” he wrote. “As we begin the new year with heavy hearts, let us hold our injured student, their family, the first responders and all those affected by this tragic event close in our thoughts and prayers.”

According to national news reports, on New Year’s Day, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Texas, drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. The attack resulted in at least 15 fatalities and injured over 30 individuals.

After crashing the vehicle, Jabbar engaged in a shootout with police officers, who fatally shot him. An Islamic State (ISIS) flag was found inside the truck, along with improvised explosive devices.

Later in the day, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, resulting in one death and seven injuries.

The vehicle, rented in Colorado, was packed with gasoline canisters, camp fuel canisters, and large firework mortars connected to a detonation system. Authorities have identified the driver as Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty U.S. Army serviceman, and suspect the explosion was intentional. He was killed in the blast.