New Orleans Chief Anne Kirkpatrick used to be Oakland's chief

NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, who has been giving public updates on the tragedy on Bourbon Street that killed 10 on New Year's Eve, may look familiar to those in the Bay Area.

That's because she served as Oakland's police chief from 2017 to 2020.

She was the city's first female police chief.

Kirkpatrick was fired three years later by an independent commission.

She sued, claiming wrongful termination for exposing corruption and abuse of power within the department and received a $1.5- million dollar settlement.

She was hired by New Orleans in 2023.

She told reporters on Wednesday morning that a driver rammed a pickup truck into a crowd in the famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing 10 people before being shot to death by police. 

More than 30 people were injured in the attack, which the FBI is investigating as an act of terrorism.

The driver was killed in a firefight with police following the attack around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday along Bourbon Street near Canal Street in an area teeming with New Year's revelers, the FBI said.