Investigators believe a driver intentionally drove around police barricades and struck and killed several people early Wednesday on a crowded street in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

The man then crashed and was killed in a shootout with officers, according to the FBI.

“The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism,” the agency said in a social media post.

Ten people were killed and 35 injured in the incident, which happened shortly after 3 a.m. while revelers will still celebrating the New Year. Local and state police began the investigation before the FBI became the lead agency, officials said shortly before 8 a.m.

Early Wednesday afternoon, NOLA.com reported the suspect had been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar. Jabbar was carrying an ISIS flag in the truck and was dressed in military gear, according to the report.

During a press conference outside a precinct, New Orleans police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said it did not appear to be a DUI incident.

“It did involve a man driving a pickup truck down Bourbon Street at a very fast pace, and it was very intentional behavior,” Kirkpatrick said. “This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could.”

The man exchanged gunfire with officers, striking two who were in stable condition, police said.

Those injured were taken to several local hospitals and their conditions were not immediately known. Kirkpatrick said the majority of the victims were local residents, rather than tourists in town for the holiday or Wednesday night’s Sugar Bowl between the University of Georgia and Notre Dame.

“Last night, we had over 300 officers out here, and because of the intentional mindset of this perpetrator – who went around our barricades in order to conduct this,” Kirkpatrick said. “He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”

Kirkpatrick said every officer in the department was called in to assist with the investigation, and that increased security measures were already in place.

The city’s mayor LaToya Cantrell called the event a terrorist attack in an early-morning press conference, but an FBI assistant special agent said that was not yet known and remains under investigation.

“We do know that the city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack,” Cantrell said.

Shortly before 10 a.m., the FBI issued a statement, saying the incident was being investigated as terrorism.

Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in the FBI’s New Orleans office, said at least one suspected improvised explosive device was found at the scene.

Officials urged everyone to stay away from the area while the investigation continued Wednesday.

“We are horrified and saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred in the early hours of New Year’s Day in New Orleans,” the University of Georgia said in a social media post. “University personnel are working to determine if any UGA students, faculty, staff, alumni or fans were among the victims. We offer our deepest condolences to all the victims and their families, and we stand in solidarity with the New Orleans community.”

Notre Dame also released a statement Wednesday morning.

“We ask our fans to join us in prayer for those injured and lost in this senseless act of violence,” the university said. “Those staying at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel are welcome to join us for the previously scheduled Mass there. Otherwise, we ask that you join us in prayer from wherever you are.”

President Joe Biden was updated on the incident, investigators said. And Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry called the incident a “horrific act of violence” in a social media post.

Investigators planned to hold another press conference later Wednesday to provide updated details.

Other Sugar Bowl events are expected to be held as planned.

Rob Saye watched fireworks from the window of his French Quarter hotel room Tuesday night before heading to bed a little after midnight. Wednesday morning, his view was a scene of police tape, emergency vehicles and debris.

Saye, a photographer from metro Atlanta, is in town for the Sugar Bowl. He said he slept through the incident and learned what had happened only after turning on the news this morning. Walking to get breakfast with a friend, he said the French Quarter was quiet now and few were out and about.

”It’s just surreal to think that this terror was happening here last night, that evil was lurking,” Saye said.

Mark Konter, a diehard Georgia fan from Savannah, was staying with his wife and two young sons in a nearby hotel in the French Quarter. He woke up to police swarming the area, examining parked cars near Bourbon Street.

— Staff writers Sara Gregory, Jozsef Papp and Greg Bluestein contributed to this article.

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(Staff writer Greg Bluestein continued to this article.)

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