Sugar Bowl postponed to Thursday after Bourbon Street terror attack

Posted by Admin January 1, 2025 Sports

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Wednesday night’s Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome has been postponed. (Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Sugar Bowl will not be played Wednesday night.

Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley said at a news conference that the game will be moved to Thursday at 8:45 p.m. ET, in the wake of the attack that killed 15 people and injured dozens of others early Wednesday morning on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

BREAKING: The Sugar Bowl has been postponed following the deadly attack in New Orleans, where investigators are still combing the crime scene and working to secure the French Quarter.

ESPN’s Laura Rutledge has the latest on the game which was set to kickoff tonight. pic.twitter.com/lzE9gn4pxW

— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) January 1, 2025

A man allegedly drove his truck into a crowd of people shortly after 3 a.m. while firing shots into the crowd. The suspect was killed by New Orleans police officers after he allegedly shot at them. The FBI identified the suspect in a release Wednesday afternoon and said other explosive devices had been found in the French Quarter. Explosive devices were also allegedly found at the scene of the attack, which is being investigated as an act of terrorism.

The subject has been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas. He was driving a Ford pickup truck, which appears to have been rented, and we are working to confirm how the subject came into possession of the vehicle.

An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.

Weapons and a potential IED were located in the subject’s vehicle. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter. The FBI’s special agent bomb technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable, and they will work to render those devices safe.

The University of Georgia announced Wednesday that a UGA student was among those injured.

“At this point, we have learned that a University of Georgia student was critically injured in the attack and is receiving medical treatment,” UGA president Jere Morehead said in a statement. “I have spoken to the student’s family and shared my concern, support and well wishes on behalf of the entire UGA community. I would like to express my gratitude to all the first responders who moved so quickly to help those affected by this senseless act of violence, as well as to the medical personnel who are caring for the injured.”

The game was already set to be the last of four College Football Playoff quarterfinals. The winner of the game will play Penn State in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 8. Hundley said the game had been postponed 24 hours; it was originally set to kick off at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN.

The Caesars Superdome, the site of the Sugar Bowl and the home of the New Orleans Saints, is scheduled to host Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9. In preparation for the Super Bowl, protective bollards to prevent traffic from entering Bourbon Street were being replaced and local news station WDSU cited witnesses who said they were not in place over New Year’s Eve and early New Year’s Day. Orleans Parish district attorney Jason Williams said local officials were investigating if barricades were still up at the time of the attack.