The Mercedes-Benz Superdome after a sudden power outage during Super Bowl XLVII. The stadium is now known as the Caesars Superdome.
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The Sugar Bowl has been postponed one day until Thursday following the deadly attack in New Orleans.
The decision comes hours after a 42-year-old man crashed a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street and then opened fire on police.
The district attorney of Orleans Parish confirmed Wednesday the game would be postponed. Officials for the Sugar Bowl didn’t immediately respond to a request comment.
The College Football Playoff quarterfinal game between Georgia and Notre Dame will be located at the Superdome on Thursday, home of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints. The NFL’s 2025 Super Bowl will take place there in February.
The Caesars Superdome, an enclosed venue with more than 70,000 seats, is reportedly on lockdown following the attack. “It’s in the best interest of everybody and public safety that we postpone,” Jeff Hundley, Sugar Bowl committee CEO, reportedly said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“The Sugar Bowl Committee is devastated by the terrible events from early this morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” Hundley said in an emailed statement on Wednesday prior to the decision to postpone the game. He added the committee was in discussions with local, state and federal authorities prior to the decision.
The Superdome is about 20 blocks from the attack, according to the Associated Press.
The FBI identified the suspect as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas, who plowed into a crowd that left at least 10 dead and 35 people injured in an early morning attack. The FBI said in a statement that an ISIS flag was located in the pickup truck and they were “working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.”
Investigators reportedly found weapons and a potential explosive device in the vehicle, as well as other potential explosive devices in the French Quarter.
