(WXYZ) — They traveled from Michigan to attend New Year’s Eve in New Orleans, but instead are now reflecting on the deadly attack now under investigation by the FBI.
This was an unimaginable attack that’s still being processed as 2025 begins in horrific fashion for countless families.
RELATED VIDEO: Local security experts discuss New Orleans attack:
In the heart of New Orleans, during a packed celebration, a driver slammed into a crowd, killing visitors and wounding many more.
The area where this all happened is the same place where 7 News Detroit photographer Andrzej Milosz was on hand listening to music and preparing to welcome 2025.
He tells me he left the area shortly before the carnage took place.
“Huge crowds were crossing Canal Street. We were on Bourbon Street. We were in the middle of the French Quarter,” he says.
WATCH: Extended interview with WXYZ-TV photographer Andrzej Miloz
Andrzej recalls taking a moment to look at the sea of people who would be only minutes away from extreme danger.
“It is scary. We were talking about not staying near crowds next year and instead going somewhere near nature,” he says.
Also in the area prior to the attack was metro Detroiter Chantal Rzewnicki, unaware that a driver had purposely planned to crash into a crowd of people before shooting two police officers.
Chantal says she did hear signs of trouble from her hotel room which was nearby.
“In the middle of the night, we just heard lots of screaming. Yelling,” she says. “We didn’t know what happened till we woke up this morning about 5 a.m.”
WATCH: Extended interview with Chantal Rzewnicki
The entire ordeal amounted to what the president has now called an act of terrorism.
Chantal and so many others are looking back on how close they came to being in a killer’s path and sending support to those who were victimized and their families.
“What a tragedy. It’s just sad for all the people that came here to have a good time and to wake up with so many loved ones that lost their life,” she says.
One thing to point out, Andrzej mentioned seeing a large police presence before this unfolded, alluding to the fact a lone attacker was able to still get to that crowd despite a level of security.
