Georgia and Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff Sugar Bowl quarterfinal at the Superdome has been rescheduled for Thursday in the wake of a deadly attack on a group of revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.
Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley stated Wednesday afternoon, “This tragedy hurts us as much as anybody right now because the Sugar Bowl Committee has a 90-year history of being a good corporate citizen for the city of New Orleans.” “All parties and all agree that it’s in the best interest of everybody and public safety that we postpone the game.”
The game will now begin at 3 p.m. CST on Thursday instead of 7:45 p.m. CST on Wednesday.
The game was originally scheduled to start at 4 p.m., but Hundley changed his mind when Notre Dame, Georgia, and the College Football Playoff asked New Orleans officials to modify the kickoff time to an earlier time of day.
According to Hundley, organizers are trying to ensure that the game will take place in “a safe, efficient, and fun environment for tomorrow night.”
Governor Jeff Landry of Louisiana tried to reassure football fans that everyone could attend the Sugar Bowl without risk.
“For the citizens who were wondering if they truly wanted to attend the Sugar Bowl tomorrow, I can assure you that your governor will be present. Believe me, that proves that the city and the facility are safer now than they were yesterday,” he remarked.
As stated in a statement, the Sugar Bowl Committee is “devastated by the terrible events from early this morning.”
The University of Notre Dame said in a statement that it was “working with law enforcement and others to determine the full scope and impact of the tragedy.”Additionally, Notre Dame requested supporters to “join us in prayer for those injured and lost in this senseless act of violence,” and they extended an invitation to anyone already in New Orleans to attend a mass that was previously planned. Wednesday morning.
A message was posted on social media by the University of Georgia.
“We are horrified and saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred in the early hours of New Year’s Day in New Orleans. University personnel are working to determine if any UGA students, faculty, staff, alumni, or fans were among the victims. We offer our deepest condolences to all the victims and their families, and we stand in solidarity with the New Orleans community,” the statement reads.
The FBI claimed that in the wake of the attack, portions of Bourbon Street had been blocked down from Canal Street to St. Anne.
“There’s so much to enjoy about New Orleans… making sure that our routes and the Superdome are safe today for the game,” commented Anne Kirkpatrick, the chief of police in New Orleans. “We had this tragic event, and we’re sorry again to everyone in our community, but we do want you to go about the day; just stay away from Bourbon.”
A man intentionally drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m., killing at least 15 people, and sending dozens more others to the hospital. The FBI said the driver was killed in a firefight with police.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” said Kirkpatrick, adding that two police officers were hit by gunfire but were in a stable condition. A long gun was recovered from the scene, law enforcement sources told CBS News.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell referred to it as a likely “terrorist attack,” and the FBI said in a news release that they are investigating it “as an act of terrorism.”
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