NEW ORLEANS — All 14 people killed in Wednesday morning’s terror attack on Bourbon Street have been identified, either through family members or verification from the local coroner.

LaTasha Polk, 47, of New Orleans was the final person whose name was unknown until family members confirmed she had died to The Times-Picayune. She was celebrating New Year’s Eve in the French Quarter with her brother, Prentiss Polk, who is still missing, according to the report.

BBC News confirmed Edward Pettifer, 31, of England was also among those killed. He was the stepson of  the former nanny for Prince William and Price Harry..

Orleans Parish Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna did not share Pettifer’s name Friday when he released the names of 12 of the deceased, citing the wishes of his family. The remaining victim, Polk, was identified only as a Black woman on the coroner’s list. 

As of Friday, McKenna said he has yet to release the body of Shamsud-Din Jabbar at the direction of federal investigators.The 42-year-old Texas native tore through a three-block section of the French Quarter in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

More than three dozen people were injured, including two New Orleans police officers who were shot during a gunfight with Jabbar, who was killed after firing at law enforcement after he crashed his rented Ford F-15o pickup truck into a lift vehicle.  

A large crowd gathered Saturday night for a vigil ceremony at a memorial site that has materialized on Bourbon, just feet from where Jabbar entered Bourbon Street. Flowers, crosses, stuffed animals and candles are being placed next to a hydraulic street barrier, which wasn’t in place ahead of New Year’s Eve.

Other fatalities

Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi. The Times-Picayune reported she had accompanied her cousin and friend to the French Quarter for New Year’s Eve, her mother said.

Hubert Gauthreaux, 21, of Gretna. He graduated from Archbishop Shaw High School in 2021 and was remembered as a bright and promising young man, according to the school representative.

Martin “Tiger” Bech, 28, of New York. Bech was a graduate of St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette who graduated from Princeton University, where he played on the football team. KLFY-TV in Lafayette reported Bech worked for a financial firm in New York.  His brother Jack, who played for LSU before transferring to Texas Tech.

Reggie Hunter, 37, of Baton Rouge. WAFB-TV reported the father of two made a last-minute decision to travel to the French Quarter with his cousin, who was also struck by the truck and injured.

The Sigma Chi International Fraternity and the Iota Iota chapter at the University of Alabama mourn the loss of Kareem Badawi, ALABAMA 2028, (right) who was tragically killed in the terrorist attack in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025. All honor to his name 🤍 pic.twitter.com/sIk2pn3ZYH

— Sigma Chi Fraternity (@SigmaChi) January 2, 2025

Kareem Badawi, 18, of Baton Rouge. The 2024 graduate of Episcopal High School was a student at the University of Alabama. WAFB-TV reported the school sent a message to parents Wednesday about Badawi’s death. His classmate, Parker Vidrine, was also injured in the attack.

Nicole Perez, 27, of Metairie. The Times-Picayune reported she was the mother of a 4-year-old son and was recently promoted to a manager at the deli where she worked.

Drew Dauphin, 26, of Montgomery, Alabama. He was an engineer who worked for Honda, according to a report from AL.com. 

Matthew Tendorio, 25, an audiovisual technician at the Superdome from Carriere, Mississippi. His family has created an GoFundMe donation page to help cover the cost of his funeral. 

Billy DeMaio, 25, of Homedel, New Jersey. He was an account executive with Audacy Inc.

Terrence Kennedy, 63 of New Orleans. WDSU-TV first confirmed his death in the attack. Kennedy’s family told The Times-Picayune he had gone out for a drink in the French Quarter to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Brandon Taylor, 43, of Terrytown. The Times-Picayune reported that Taylor was with his  fiancée at a club in the 300 block of Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning. He stepped out onto the street near a lift vehicle just before Jabbar crashed his truck into it. It’s believed Taylor was the last person he struck.

Elliot Wilkinson, 40, of Lafayette. His brother, Cecil, posted on his Facebook page that he was notified Friday morning that his brother was among the fatalities. KPEL-FM reported that the Orleans Parish coroner had contacted the family.

The injured

The University of Georgia, whose football team took part in the Sugar Bowl college football playoff game against Notre Dame, confirmed that one of its students was critically injured in the terror attack. WBBH-TV confirmed the student is 19-year-old Elle Eisele of Fort Myers, Florida.

Eisele’s high school classmate, Steele Idelson, 19, was also hurt. She is a student at San Diego State University.

Adam Coste, an employee of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans,  suffered “extensive injuries to his lower extremities,” according to a friend who created a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses. He identified Coste as an Army veteran.

Jeremi Sensky of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, was paralyzed from the waist down before Wednesday’s attack. He was in his wheelchair going back to his French Quarter hotel room after dinner when Jabbar’s truck struck him on Bourbon Street, NBC News reported. He sustained two broken legs and needed surgery.

Alexis Scott-Windham of Mobile, Alabama, was struck by Jabbar’s truck then shot in the foot when he exchanged gunfire with police, The Times-Picayune reported. Her friend, Brandon Whitsett, was also hit by the truck and suffered multiple injuries. Two others in their group received minor injuries.

Two visitors from Mexico were also among the injured, WVUE-TV Fox 8 reported. Both are in stable condition at a local hospital, and the Mexican consulate in New Orleans is working to keep their families informed.

ABC News reported that two Israeli nationals were injured. Israel’s consulate is sending a representative to New Orleans.

Lone actor

Jabbar posted five videos on his Facebook page in the two hours before he made his fatal drive down Bourbon Street. In one video recorded while he was driving from Houston to New Orleans, Jabbar said he “joined ISIS before the summer,” FBI Deputy Director Christopher Raia said at a news conference Thursday. 

The pickup Jabbar drove was rented Monday in Houston, and he made the trip to New Orleans on New Year’s Eve. Investigators believe he built improvised explosive devices at a short-term rental property 2 miles from the French Quarter.

One of the IEDs was found inside the pickup truck, which featured an Islamic State flag on a pole attached to its trailer hitch. The FBI said Friday a working remote detonation device was also found inside the truck.

Raia said surveillance video shows Jabbar placing a cooler with a homemade bomb inside at the intersection of Bourbon and Orleans streets and a second device two blocks away. Both were safely detonated after the French Quarter was cleared and police swept the neighborhood for evidence and other explosives.

“Precursor chemicals” for bomb making were found in the mobile home where Jabbar lived in north Houston, according to the FBI. Agents broke down the door of the residence Thursday and returned to the site Friday in search of more evidence.

The FBI is saying their investigation to this point indicates Jabbar acted alone in planning the terror attack. Agents do not currently believe there are any links between the incident in New Orleans and Wednesday’s explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.

The driver of the truck, U.S. Army Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger, 37, left notes on his iPhone praising President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk and criticizing Democrats, the FBI said. Livelsberger committed suicide before the explosion, according to investigators.

This report was updated at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Biden-Harris Administration quickly deploying resources to assist all those impacted by horrific attack

Washington, Jan. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In response to the request from Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that small businesses and private nonprofit organizations (PNPs) in Louisiana may now apply for federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by the mass casualty incident that occurred in the French Quarter of New Orleans on Jan. 1. The disaster declaration includes the parishes of Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and St. Tammany.

“The SBA joins the entire federal family in grieving the lives lost in this horrific attack and praying for those who were injured,” said SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman. “As New Orleans and the wider community mourn and begin the healing process for this devastating tragedy, the SBA, in collaboration with state and local partners, stands ready to support and help provide disaster assistance to businesses suffering economic impact – including the small businesses than make neighborhoods like the French Quarter so vibrant.”

Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to eligible small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small aquaculture enterprises, and PNPs that suffered financial losses as a direct result of this disaster. EIDLs offer working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the business did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred.

The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates of 4% for small businesses and 3.625% for PNPs, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due, until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the SBA has simplified the process for an SBA disaster declaration and expanded available financial relief available, allowing the agency to more quickly provide greater affordable disaster loans and assistance to the small businesses that are the backbone of our communities nationwide.

Applicants may apply online and receive additional disaster assistance information at SBA.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Story Continues

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana’s attorney general on Friday issued four suggestions on how public schools should display the Ten Commandments. One says the document shouldn’t be posted behind any teacher’s desk and another says it should be displayed with other historical documents.

Lawmakers last year directed that a copy of the Protestant version of the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school classroom, including those at colleges and universities, beginning Jan. 1. A federal judge in November struck the law down as unconstitutional.

The attorney general’s office has said the judge’s order applies only to five school districts named in a lawsuit challenging the law and that other districts can post the Ten Commandments without violating an order from U.S. District Judge John de Gravelles.

The judge’s order, however, directed the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the state’s education secretary to tell all districts about his decision — not just districts covering students in East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Orleans, St. Tammany and Vernon parishes.

“Defendants (Cade) Brumley and BESE Members shall be responsible for providing notice of this order and H.B. 71’s unconstitutionality to all Louisiana public elementary, secondary, and charter schools, and all public post-secondary education institutions,” he wrote.

The American Civil Liberties Union wrote to school districts statewide last month saying that while they were not named defendants in the lawsuit, they could be sued if they didn’t protect the constitutional rights of their students.

“Even though your district is not a party to the ongoing lawsuit, and therefore is not technically subject to the district court’s injunction, all school districts have an independent obligation to respect students’ and families’ constitutional rights. Because the U.S. Constitution supersedes state law, public-school officials may not comply with H.B. 71,” it wrote.

Lester Duhe, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said state lawyers viewed the ACLU letter as giving tacit approval for posting the Ten Commandments.

“Even ACLU’s statement agrees non-parties can comply with the law,” he said this week.

In the guidance provided Friday, the attorney general’s office said that to avoid confusion about whether the display could be attributed to a teacher, “a school should place its displays on any classroom wall other than behind a teacher’s desk, podium or location from which a teacher ordinarily delivers instruction.”

It also said the Ten Commandments should be displayed “among others reflecting educational content, such as those displaying the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance.”

The other suggestions included using one of four sample displays of the Ten Commandments the attorney general’s office provided and ensuring it was large enough to be read.

A court hearing on the challenge to the law is scheduled for Jan. 23.