The suspect died after a shootout with police, law enforcement officials said.
"This man was trying to run over as many people as he could," police chief Anne Kirkpatrick said at a press conference on Wednesday.
"He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did."
The incident occurred about 3.15am at the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Streets - a historical tourist destination in the city's French Quarter known for attracting large crowds with its music and bars - during New Year's Eve celebrations, the city said in a statement.
Police chief Anne Kirkpatrick says a suspect was "trying to run over as many people as he could". (AP PHOTO)
Kirkpatrick said the driver, who swerved around barricades, fired at police and struck two police officers from the vehicle after it crashed.
The officers were in stable condition, she added.
"We know the perpetrator has been killed," New Orleans City Councilman Oliver Thomas said.
"As we search for a motive, remember there is no making sense of evil."
There was no immediate word on the driver's identity.
More than 300 officers were on duty at the time of the incident, police said.
The city hosts the Sugar Bowl, a classic US college football game, each New Year's Day and will also be the site of the NFL Super Bowl on February 9.
At a news conference, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the killings as a "terrorist attack" but an assistant FBI agent in charge initially said it was "not a terrorist event".
Verified video taken by an onlooker shows at least two twisted bodies in the street, with one of them lying in what appears to be a puddle of blood.
A bystander is seen kneeling over one of the bodies as a group of uniformed military personnel in green uniforms and carrying firearms runs past.
Authorities say a driver fired at police and struck two police officers after his truck crashed. (AP PHOTO)
"A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning," Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said on X, urging people to stay away from the area where the attack took place.
The injured were taken to at least five hospitals according to NOLA Ready, the city's emergency preparedness department.
A couple told CBS News that they heard crashing noises coming from down the street and then saw a white truck slam through a barricade "at a high rate of speed".
Zion Parsons, 18, told NOLA.com that he and his two friends were leaving a Bourbon Street eatery when they heard a commotion and saw a white car barrelling toward them.
He said he dodged the vehicle but one of his friends was struck, with her leg "twisted and contorted above and around her back".
"You can just look and see bodies, just bodies of people, just bleeding, broken bones," he said.
Louisiana US Senator Bill Cassidy said on CNN that despite the attack, law enforcement in New Orleans was ready for the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday night.
"The Superdome has been locked down," he said.
US President Joe Biden called the city's mayor to offer full federal support, the White House said in a statement.
"The country woke up this morning to news of a terrible tragedy in New Orleans," US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
He said federal law enforcement agencies would "deploy every available resource to conduct this investigation".
President-elect Donald Trump said in a statement that his incoming administration would "fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!".
Last month in Germany, a 50-year-old man was charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder after police said he plowed a car through crowds at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing five people and injuring scores.
New Orleans has been the scene of shootings and cars colliding with crowds at past parades.
In November 2024, two people were killed and 10 others injured in two separate shootings along a New Orleans parade route and celebration attended by thousands, local media reported.
In February 2017, a pick-up truck driven by a man who police said appeared to be highly intoxicated plowed into a crowd of spectators watching the main Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, injuring more than 20 people.
with Reuters
