Vehicle plows into crowd on Bourbon St., with 14 fatalities

Besides the ultimate larger questions, I have some random wandering thoughts. Why the timing as opposed to closer to midnight? Or even later today as crowds wander the city during the day before the Sugar Bowl. Where was this guy earlier? Was he staying somewhere here or had he just rolled into town from wherever he embarked and whenever he got here is when he got here to carry out this attack? I know from being on the road yesterday how many Texas plates I saw because I remarked about it. Now, I don't think for a minute we passed him, but still it makes you think about vehicles you pass.
If it was an actual ISIS attack, why wouldn't they have waited until the superbowl crowd?