Witnesses describe scenes of carnage after deadly New Orleans attack
NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Witnesses described scenes of carnage in the wake of an attack early Wednesday morning on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that left 15 killed and 30 injured.
The suspect, who has not yet been identified, was allegedly "hellbent" on killing as many people as possible when he steered a pickup truck around barricades and plowed into a crowd of people ringing in the New Year.
One witness, Paul S., who asked ABC News to withhold his full name, said he had watched a fireworks display and went back to his hotel, going to bed around 2:00 a.m. CT. A little over an hour later, he woke up to popping sounds.
"We heard a 'pop, pop, pop, pop' sound, followed by a sound that sounded like fireworks going off, like a big firework all at once, and it turned out that was the crash," he said.
Paul said he peeked through the curtains to see what was occurring and saw police officers telling people in buildings to stay inside. He then went onto the balcony and started recording the aftermath of the attack.
"There's litter all over the sidewalks, and then there were bodies laid up next to garbage cans and people rushing to give aid," he said. "There were...these really bright lights out on Bourbon Street and that illuminated the scene where you could look up and down a block and see it completely empty except for the bodies that were on the ground."
"The one detail that feels the worst was a man who was in a wheelchair, who was clearly knocked out of it and on the ground in pain. It's just right next to where the carpark ended," Paul added.
Paul said he did not see the suspect but was able to see four bullet holes in the rear windshield of the pickup truck.
Another witness, Jimmy Cothran, told ABC News' Morgan Norwood he and his group ducked into a Bourbon Street nightclub when the commotion began.
Shortly after he entered the club, he said five girls ran in "frantically" and hid under chairs.
Cothran said he ran upstairs to the club's balcony and witnessed "body after body mangled just as far as you could see. We counted 10, and at least six were instantly clearly deceased. Some were very clearly deceased, but others were yelling out. ... It's a lot to process."
Cothran added that he saw some bodies in the street that bore tire marks.
"It looked like something out of a movie the way the bodies were mangled," he said. "These people are never going to wake up."
The suspect was allegedly firing a gun as he mowed people down, law enforcement officials said. He was shot and killed by police when he got out of his vehicle with an assault rifle, the officials said.
ABC News' Aaron Katersky and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
