NEW ORLEANS, LA — A local mother was in New Orleans to celebrate the New Year’s holiday with her daughter when it turned somber after what the FBI is investigating as a terrorist attack.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Diana Pearson and her daughter Ayana traveled 12 hours from Butler County to New Orleans for a special mother-daughter New Year’s Eve celebration, according to our news partner WCPO.
RELATED CONTENT:
- Bourbon Street Attack: Who are the victims killed in the attack?
- Bourbon Street Attack: Suspect posted videos on social media hours before attack
- Bourbon Street Attack: Who is Shamsud-Din Jabbar?
- Bourbon Street Attack: Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame-Georgia postponed in wake of terror attack
- Bourbon Street Attack: President Biden, President-elect Trump release statements on deadly attack
They visited friends and purchased tickets to this year’s Sugar Bowl scheduled for New Year’s Day at the Caesar’s Superdome in Downtown New Orleans.
“We actually went to the New Year’s Eve party on Jackson Square, which is in the French Quarter,” said Pearson. “We were enjoying the event, enjoying the people.”
They both walked to their hotel room around 2 a.m. a few blocks away and slept, WCPO reports.
Chaos erupted not too far from their room.
At least 15 people were killed and dozens more were injured in what the FBI is investigating as a terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.
Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, has been identified as the suspect who drove a car into a crowd of people along Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
Jabbar was shot and killed by officers after opening fire on them during the attack. Two New Orleans police officers were injured.
Pearson told WCPO they slept through it and did not know what transpired.
“We did not hear any commotion, we did not hear anything,” she said. “I received a frantic call from a relative in Cincinnati.”
The mother said she was stunned, shocked, and saddened by the violence.
“It’s just horrific, it’s just said,” she told WCPO.
Pearson described the scene in what is normally New Orleans’ busiest area.
“Before there was, you know, lots of music, lots of people being just real happy and jovial, and it’s ... it’s not that atmosphere today,” she said.
Pearson said she and her daughter decided to stay an extra day.
They plan to attend the Sugar Bowl, rescheduled for 4 p.m. on Thursday.
“As long as she felt comfortable, I’m fine, because I wanted her to have a good time as well. And she wants to stay so I’m fine with it,” Pearson told WCPO.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group
