Before reading this, hug your loved ones and never take that for granted again…
I never once thought I’d be so close in proximity to a terrorist attack, much less personally witness the aftermath, but that’s what happened during the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.
At the beginning of the night, the streets were lively, and vibrant neon lights lit up the French Quarter. Georgia and Notre Dame fans shared fun, back-and-forth banter, and everyone was in high spirits for the game that was supposed to be played on Wednesday.
After celebrating the ball drop at midnight, I walked with Tribune photographer Brett Fowler back to our hotel, which was located on the corner of Canal St. and Camp St., at 12:30 a.m.
Once we were back in the hotel room, I struggled to fall asleep and decided to meet back up with friends out on Bourbon St. around 1 a.m. We entered the last bar we went to at 2:45 a.m. and stayed inside until about 3:30 a.m.
I thank the Lord for keeping me there an extra 15 minutes…
Around 3:15 a.m. CST, a man took a truck filled with firearms and improvised explosive devices and drove through a massive crowd on Bourbon St., killing 15 and injuring another estimated 35 people.
When we started our walk back, we were completely unaware of what had just occurred a block away from us. We passed a few cop cars with lights on, but didn’t think anything of it since law enforcement normally monitored the streets.
That was until we came across yellow crime scene barricade tape.
As we got closer, the carnage became more noticeable, and my gaze fell on two lifeless bodies laying on the sidewalk as we were being redirected by law enforcement down an adjacent street. In the distance, the biggest crowd of police officers gathered around what looked to be a wrecked vehicle.
It was such a surreal moment that I didn’t know how to react. All I could do was keep looking over my shoulder on the silent walk back to the hotel. The amount of blood and brain matter strewn across the street will haunt me for a while.
Once I reached Canal St., the gravity of the situation fully hit me. Hundreds of cop cars with flashing blue lights lined the street, bumper-to-bumper for almost eight blocks.
Even then, I didn’t truly know what had happened until I woke up around 9 a.m. CST to roughly 50 missed calls and texts from friends and family back in Georgia.
I turned on the TV to see the full magnitude of what ended up being a terrorist attack on every channel, and just kept thinking, “If any part of that night had gone differently, I may not have been as lucky as I was.”
I am blessed beyond belief to be safe and unharmed, and I pray for all the families that were directly affected by the tragedy.
Brendan Koerner is the sports editor for The Walton Tribune, a sister publication of The Covington News. He can be reached at brendan.koerner@waltontribune.com.
