The Sugar Bowl college football playoff game has been postponed in the wake of a deadly attack that took place in New Orleans on the morning of Jan. 1.
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Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley announced the news and said that the game between Georgia and Notre Dame would be postponed for 24 hours. The Sugar Bowl later set a kickoff time of 3 p.m. CT on Jan. 2.
According to ESPN, the decision to postpone the game also took place after a security sweep discovered two improvised explosive devices at the scene of the attack in the French Quarter.
"The Sugar Bowl Committee is devastated by the terrible events from early this morning," Hundley said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.
"We are in ongoing discussions with authorities on the local, state, and federal levels and will communicate further details as they become available."
The football teams from Georgia and Notre Dame are staying in hotels blocks from where the attack occurred. The teams were not evacuated from their hotels, per NOLA.com.
The attack took place around 3:15 a.m. local time. A man, who sources identified as Shamsud Din Jabbar, drove a pickup around barricades and into a group of revelers on Bourbon Street. According to ABC News, city officials said that this attack left at least 15 people dead and dozens of others injured.
The suspect reportedly got out of the pickup truck with a rifle in hand and opened fire on police officers. They returned fire and killed Jabbar. Two officers were shot and wounded, per ABC News.
"He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did," New Orleans Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said in a statement. "It was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he could."
According to law enforcement officials, an ISIS flag, a potential IED, and weapons were found in the suspect's pickup. The FBI said in a statement that it "is working to determine the subject's potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations."
