Among the thousands on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early New Year’s morning: Lynn City Councilor Fred Hogan. He and other locals flew down to support Lynn native Joenel Aguero, a former St. John’s Prep standout and now a defensive back for the University of Georgia. UGA and Notre Dame are facing off in the Sugar Bowl. The game was supposed to be played on New Year’s night, but has been delayed 24 hours.
“The streets were person to person packed,” Hogan told Boston 25 News. “And after New Year’s went off more people took to the streets because a lot of them were inside the establishments.”
Around 2:30 a.m., Hogan and friends decided to head back to their hotel, the Sheraton on Canal Street.
“Something told us to go home,” he said. “We got something to eat on the way, we got some pizza and we made it home back to our hotel.”
Half an hour later, chaos and carnage erupted on Bourbon Street. Police said 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a pick-up truck into the crowd , killing at least ten revelers and injuring many others. Police killed Jabbar after he exited the truck armed — then fired at officers.