Minnesotans who celebrated on the famed Bourbon Street just hours before the New Year’s Day attack are still trying to process the carnage.

“It was unbelievable,” said Thom Prince, a longtime Minnesotan who recently moved to New Orleans.

Prince spent most of New Year’s Eve with his family in the French Quarter, just a few blocks from where the attack happened. They left a few hours before it happened.

“To think that someone can do that to people that were doing the same thing I was doing, just enjoying the weather, enjoying the music,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine.”

Investigators said the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, is a U.S. citizen from Texas. Jabbar died after engaging in a shootout with police immediately driving through the crowd.

Authorities said he drove a rented pick-up truck into the crowd by going on the sidewalk and in an area that didn’t have a barricade.

“We recognize we have a problem right here, and we’re going to fix it. It’s going to be a top priority,” said Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who tried to assure the public Wednesday that it’s still safe to attend the Sugar Bowl pushed back to Thursday night in New Orleans.

During the day, Prince recalls officers stationed on every corner.

“Bourbon Street for me is a very safe place. It’s one of the reasons I like to go there for so many years,” he said.

As of late Wednesday, the death toll climbed to at least 15 people. More than 35 others are injured.

Federal authorities said the attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism and that the suspect was inspired by the Islamic State .

Former FBI special agent Kyle Loven, who worked with the agency for 22 years, said the rampage has the hallmarks of “politically motivated violence.” He added that investigators are likely looking into whether Jabbar was an “ISIS aspirant” or a “bona fide member” of the terrorist group.

“The law enforcement authorities will need to look at that to see if this was someone who aspired to be a member of the group, or who was actually sanctioned, actually a member of ISIS who sanctioned the event,” Loven told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.

Loven said people should be cautious of a copycat attack going forward.

“As a society, we need to start being a little more self-aware, especially when it comes to these gatherings of large groups of people,” he said.