Pickup plows into New Orleans crowd, injuring 28; driver arrested

 

NEW ORLEANS --

Police say 28 people were injured when a vehicle plowed into a crowd watching the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans.

Police Chief Michael Harrison says one person in custody and that he is being investigated for driving while intoxicated. Harrison says police do not suspect terrorism.

Harrison says that 21 people were hospitalized after the crash with five victims in guarded condition. Seven others declined to be hospitalized.

The crash was reported Saturday at about 6:45 p.m.

New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman Ambria Washington says that "initial reports show so far that about a dozen people are in critical condition."

She says that number could increase as the investigation continues.

One woman at the scene told The New Orleans Advocate that a silver truck whisked by her just feet away as she was walking through the intersection.

Carrie Kinsella said, "I felt a rush it was so fast."

Twenty-year-old Kourtney McKinnis told the Advocate that the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done.

"He was just kind of out of it," she said.