Wednesday on “CNN’s “Newsroom” host Pamela Brown was visibly shaken by Jimmy Cothran’s firsthand account of the attack on New Year’s Eve on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street.
Cothran said, “About 3:15 this morning, me and my friend, we’re heading from lower Bourbon towards Canal. We seen up towards Krystal Berger and all that, that there was just a lot going on. And so we ducked off into a nightclub real quick.And within two minutes of walking in, four or five girls come running in, push past security, and hide under tables. Me and my friend, living here kind of knowing what’s what, and things that have been on the news, we didn’t take any chances. We ran upstairs to the balcony area that we knew was there. And when we got up there, there wasn’t anyone chasing anybody. It was just unimaginable casualty.
He continued, “I mean, just the disfigurement and the bodies — strong. It’s something you can’t unsee. You’ll never forget. Directly at our feet was definitely a mother. Twisted up, obviously deceased. We counted around eight bodies very quickly right in our area. One gentleman crushed had tire tracks across his back. Once they rolled him over, there were tire tracks on his front, he was completely crushed. Another girl, young small girl, was dancing when we were coming up the street, and she was just completely flat in the middle, dead center. Another woman, just brutally run over, but still agonizing.
He added, “I’m certified in CPR and first responder training. They wouldn’t let us help. They locked all inside, which is understandable. But nobody else was helping him. So that was even tougher. But just the fact that these these people are somebody’s people, and they’re not going to be there this morning, it’s rough.”
Brown said, “I’m just speechless. What you just described — I’m speechless.”
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