Former Princeton Tiger football player dies in New Orleans attack

🚨 The FBI says a pickup truck drove into a crowd in New Orleans' French Quarter

🚨 At least 10 people were killed

🚨 Former Princeton football player Tiger Bech was identified as one of the victims

One of the victims of an act of terrorism in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the early hours of New Year's Day was a Princeton University football player.

Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette, Louisana, told KLFY TV and other outlets that Tiger Bech was taken to a hospital after the attack where he was kept on life support until his family arrived.

The FBI said that Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen and Army veteran from Texas, drove a rented Ford pickup truck into a crowd around 3:15 a.m. on the city's famed Bourbon Street killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens. Jabbar exited the pickup and fired on police who returned fire. Jabbar was pronounced dead at the scene. Two members of law enforcement with hospitalized with injuries.

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A Tiger for three years

Bech's brother Jack Bech re-tweeted the news of Tiger's death on his personal X account.

"Love you always brother! You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us," Jack Bech wrote.

Bech played football for Princeton between 2016 and 2018, according to the Princeton athletics website. The wide receiver and punt returned helped Princeton post the highest-scoring offense in Ivy League history during the 2018 season in which the team posted its first perfect season since 1964.

"There was no more appropriate nickname of a Princeton player I coached," Princeton head football coach Bob Surace said in a statement. "He was a 'Tiger' in every way - a ferocious competitor with endless energy, a beloved teammate and a caring friend. Our last conversation was about how proud I was of the growth he showed during his time at Princeton and the success he was having after graduation. My love goes to the entire Bech family."

According to Tiger Bech's Linkedin account he graduated Princeton in 2021 and also a member of the University Cottage Club. He was working for Seaport Global Holdings in New York City.

Friend and former Tiger teammate Ryan Quigley was with Bech and was injured after being struck by the pickup, according to a GoFundMe campaign which has raised nearly $80,000 to assist both families.

Tiger Bech’s mother Michelle told 6 ABC Action News her son and Quigley were in Louisiana for a weekend of hunting and fishing

Quigelu attended Lansdale Catholic High School in Montgomery County, PA, according to the Princeton University athletics website.

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Sugar Bowl postponed

An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle along with a potential improvised explosive device (IED). Other possible IEDs were also found in the French Quarter. Authorities are looking into whether other people may have been involved in the attack.

The Sugar Bowl college football playoff game between Georgia and Notre Dame at the nearby Superdome was postponed until Thursday. A Georgia student was critically hurt in the attack, university president Jere Morehead said.

The FBI has set up a digital tip line, and asked anyone with information or video of the incident to submit them to fbi.gov/bourbonstreetattack or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

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