2 former Long Islanders among 14 killed in New Orleans attack

Two former Long Islanders, both 25, were among the 14 people killed in the New Year's Day pickup truck attack in New Orleans.

Matthew Tenedorio, who lived on Long Island as a child, was in the area when the driver rammed into a group of revelers on Bourbon Street early Wednesday in what the FBI is investigating as an act of terrorism. The driver then got out of the vehicle and opened fire.

Tenedorio's father, Lou, who works as a supervisor at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans and lives by the Mississippi-Louisiana border, told Newsday his son had traveled to the city with two friends to celebrate the holiday after a New Year's Eve dinner with family. 

During the shooting, Matthew Tenedorio was in the area with the friends, and police ushered them into a building. His friends made it inside, but he was killed, his father said.

"They saw the truck coming and hit people, they did not see the gunshots," his cousin Christina Bounds of Slidell, Louisiana, said in a text message. "They only heard them and they got shoved into the bars by police officers. Matthew was in front of them. They did not see where he went."

Among the other 13 people killed in the attack was Billy DiMaio, who grew up on Long Island before his family moved to New Jersey. DiMaio, an account executive for the media company Audacy and based in New York City, was in New Orleans to celebrate New Year’s Eve and see friends who planned to go to the Sugar Bowl, his parents, Tracie and Bill DiMaio, of Holmdel, New Jersey, told NOLA.com.

Billy DiMaio's friends escaped injury.

“He was a good, humble kid,” Bill DiMaio said. “He loved life.”

The younger DiMaio graduated in 2022 from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, where he was on the lacrosse team and earned a master’s degree.

“He was a pure, gentle-hearted soul," his mother said. “He will be truly missed.”

In addition to those killed, dozens were injured in the attack by a man the FBI identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, who was fatally shot in a firefight with police after the truck attack, according to authorities.

Lou Tenedorio told Newsday the evening had started as an enjoyable experience, and the family lit fireworks together.

"We had a really good time," he said about the dinner.

Tenedorio said he learned about the attack when he went to work at the Superdome Thursday morning. The stadium had been put under lockdown for security sweeps after the Wednesday attack, officials said.

When Tenedorio returned home, he and his wife, Cathy, could not get in touch with their son. The local coroner told them of their son's death, Lou Tenedorio said.

Matthew Tenedorio was born at Winthrop Hospital in Mineola and lived in Huntington until his family moved to the New Orleans area in 2003, Bounds said. He was an audiovisual technician for the Superdome.

"He loved his job," said his father. "He had a bright future there."

With AP