BY CHAD RYAN
I was supposed to photograph an important college football game last Wednesday night in New Orleans. It would have to wait.
A man hellbent on causing death and destruction changed all that. In the early morning hours, he used a pickup truck and firearms as his weapons of choice to kill at least 14 and wound dozens of other innocent people who were on Bourbon Street, celebrating the arrival of 2025. Celebrating the promise that comes with the start of a new year.
My New Year’s Eve kicked off with me photographing the Allstate Sugar Bowl Parade. I talked with so many people who were just happy. How can one not be happy at a parade? I’d spent a fair amount of time walking around the French Quarter when discussion arose with my family and colleagues about staying out until midnight to celebrate with revelers. I opted to call it an early night to save what was left of my legs for the game.
My wife, Cheryl, and teenage sons joined me on this trip for some much-needed time away. Walking the Quarter, taking in the Mardi Gras-style parade, enjoying Cafe Du Monde beignets and generally enjoying as much of the area and culture as we could squeeze in, everyone was wiped out by the time we finished our last dinner of 2024 together. So we talked and decided to head back to our vacation rental to quietly ring in the new year together.
Then around 6:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day, the texts started rolling in.
“Are you guys ok?!”
“You good??? I just heard what happened down there.”
“Hoping you’re OK after seeing the news. Absolutely horrible!”
We were OK. Unfortunately, many were not … and won’t be for quite some time.
Sometime shortly after 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day, Shamsud-Din Jabbar allegedly drove a rented truck around a parked New Orleans police car onto the sidewalk on the north side of Bourbon Street then floored it. He drove into dozens of pedestrians before crashing the truck into a construction boom lift. Apparently not satisfied with the damage he had already caused, Jabbar then allegedly got out of the truck and began firing a rifle at revelers and police before finally being neutralized by officers.
I saw video. I watched news reports. A bit of shell shock set in.
My wife, sons and I had been in that exact spot earlier in the day on New Year’s Eve. After the parade that afternoon, I needed to finish editing and transmitting photos, so I asked my wife and sons to get us a table at an oyster house near the corner of Bourbon and Iberville streets – less than a football field distance away from the carnage that would unfold hours later. While processing the events of the attack, I considered that had this madman chosen to do his evil around dinner time, I could’ve unwittingly sent my family to their doom. That’s when the gravity of the situation really took hold.
After searching out as much credible info as I could find the morning of January 1, I tried to reassure my family we were safe. Much was still unknown, however, as the FBI, ATF, NOPD and numerous other law enforcement agencies continued their investigations. Information trickled in about possible bombs in the area, and my confidence in my family’s safety was rattled. I told them if they felt unsafe, we’d pack up and head back to Indiana. But everyone agreed we would stay.
I was there to do a job. There was still a big game to photograph. Seventh-seeded Notre Dame against No. 2 Georgia. College Football Playoff. Kind of a big deal.
After sharing a nice brunch, my wife dropped me off at the Sugar Bowl Media hotel around noon so I could be there in time for the first shuttle to the stadium. I knew security would be tighter than normal, so arriving on the scene as early as possible became important. Phil Houk, publisher of Fighting Irish Preview, and I discussed the situation at length, weighing the pros and cons of staying or heading home. A fair amount of back and forth conversations led us to agree we would stay to finish the job we came to do: tell the stories of Notre Dame’s biggest football postseason opportunity in years.
Suddenly, however, the game seemed infinitely less important. Families were just learning of their losses. Police were trying to ascertain what level of threat might still exist. Finally just more than six hours before the Allstate Sugar Bowl was set to kickoff, officials announced the postponement of the game. I’d been working on finishing my normal game prep. When it became clear there would be no New Year’s Day football game played in New Orleans, I shifted from sports shooter to news shooter. My old newspaper photojournalist instincts kicked in. I spent a lot of years documenting news scenes, and now I’d been thrust into another. One of the biggest of my career.
I called my wife to explain I needed to grab a couple of cameras and head out on the streets. I needed to make pictures that told a story about how people in the area were dealing with this tragedy. I wasn’t completely sure yet how I was dealing with it, but making pictures helps me focus.
“How did I know?” Cheryl replied.
As usual, Cheryl came at me with logic and reason, protesting my plan somewhat. Finally, she conceded to attempt to not worry about me. Relying on the experience of being married to me for 21 years, she has come to trust that I do keep my own personal safety in mind while doing that job.
New Orleans’ mayor LaToya Cantrell, police chief Anne Kirkpatrick and Sen. John Kennedy made passioned pleas to tourists to keep away from Bourbon Street and to limit their movement around the French Quarter. The intersection of Bourbon and Canal streets was blocked from view by police vehicles, as it was still very much an active crime scene. But people wanted to see whatever they could see.
Canal Street, about a block from the media hotel, became the de facto media staging area. Numerous TV and online news outlets setup just outside the crime scene tape to gather and deliver their news reports.
While there wasn’t as much foot traffic as previous days, there was still a significant number of people walking the area, just trying to take in a glimpse of the scene, taking cellphone pictures and talking to strangers about the attack. Mainly, they were just trying to understand and process what happened just hours before.
It certainly isn’t easy to understand what makes a person want to inflict such evil on other people.
Thursday, January 2, came and along with it, more questions. Would Notre Dame and Georgia still meet in the 2025 Allstate Sugar Bowl? Would the game be moved to another city? Would fans who had already purchased tickets be able to stay for the game?
But more importantly, would injured victims survive? Would the two police officers shot by the suspect survive? Would they be able or willing to serve their city once again after a full recovery? Would New Orleans, which is known as a major tourist destination, come back from this? They’ve got the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras coming up in short order, after all.
Some of those answers are now known and some are not. One known fact: As bad as this attack was, New Orleans has come back from worse.
What this incident reaffirmed to me is we are living in uncertain times. People seem more willing than ever to do the unthinkable. Because of this, I believe situational awareness and personal safety should always be top of mind. The ruth is, this type of attack could’ve happened and still could happen in any city in America. But I continue to believe no matter where it happens, we cannot let terror win.