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A loving father of two, a former college football player, and a student from the University of Alabama were among at least 15 people killed when a rented pickup truck plowed into a crowd celebrating the New Year in New Orleans during Wednesday’s early hours.
The FBI has identified Texas Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, as the suspect of the attack in the city’s popular French Quarter, and is investigating it as an act of terrorism.
Authorities have yet to release the names of the victims, but some have been identified by their relatives and people close to them.
Here are the names and lives of the victims we’ve come to know so far:
The native of Lafayette, Louisiana, was a former Princeton football player and had been working as a junior trader for capital markets firm Seaport Global Holdings in New York City after graduating in 2021.
Bech was “a ferocious competitor with endless energy, a beloved teammate and a caring friend,” Princeton’s football coach Bob Surace said in a statement on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old had traveled to his home state for the holidays and was planning to fly back to New York on Wednesday morning, according to his older sister Virginia Bech.
Instead, he was caught up in the deadly attack while on his way back to a hotel with his best friend Ryan Quigley, she said.
Bech died from internal injuries including head trauma hours after the attack, his sister said.
“Happy new year” was the last text message he sent to a family group chat, at 1:30 a.m.
“Evil will not prevail,” Virginia Bech told CNN, describing herself as “heartbroken.”
Quigley, Tiger Bech’s friend, is in a stable condition with severe cuts to the head and a broken leg, the sister said citing doctors.
Hunter, 37, was a father of two known for his sense of humor, according to his cousin Shirell Robinson Jackson.
“He loved his kids. He loved, loved, loved his family,” Jackson wrote in a Facebook post in memory of him, calling his death “a punch to the gut.”
Hunter leaves behind his 11-year-old and a one-year-old, according to the cousin.
The Baton Rouge native was at Bourbon Street with another cousin, Kevin Ball, when disaster struck.
After the attack, he was taken to a hospital, where he was still alive when some family members visited him.
But by the time Jackson got to the hospital at 7:20 a.m. he had died from internal injuries, the cousin said.
“He surely didn’t deserve this, none of the victims did,” the cousin wrote on Facebook.
Kareem Badawi, a student from the University of Alabama, was also among the 15 people killed, the school confirmed.
“I learned today that Kareem Badawi, one of our students at The University of Alabama, was killed in the terrorist attack in New Orleans,” university President Stuart R. Bell announced in a statement on Facebook. “I grieve alongside family and friends of Kareem in their heartbreaking loss,” he added.
Badawi’s high school, the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge, said it would be holding an evening prayer session on Thursday for Badawi and Parker Vidrine, another former student who was injured in the attack. Both Badawi and Vidrine graduated from the high school in 2024.
Among the dozens injured were two female college students, Elle Eisele and Steele Idelson, both 19 and alumni of Canterbury School in Fort Myers, Florida, according to school.
Eisele attends the University of Georgia while Idelson goes to San Diego State University.
“The Eisele and Idelson families are deeply grateful for the outpouring of thoughts, prayers, and offers of support for our daughters following the tragic attack in New Orleans,” Canterbury said in a statement on behalf of the families to CNN.
The families also thanked medical staff and first responders for their care and swift actions.
At least two Mexican citizens were among the injured in the New Orleans attack, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the attack, expressing her “solidarity with the families of the victims and with the people of the United States.”
Two Israeli citizens were injured in the attack, according to Israel’s foreign ministry.
CNN’s Isaac Yee contributed to this report.
