New Orleans city leaders were warned in a confidential 2019 physical security assessment Bourbon street full of tourists it was vulnerable to a vehicular attack because some of the existing locking mechanisms were impossible.
The warning rang painfully true five years later on New Year’s Day The man from Texas, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, It ran over pedestrians on Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more in a truck attack and shooting. Jabbar, who professed support for ISIS, was shot dead by New Orleans police at the scene.
Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies work on Bourbon Street after at least ten people were killed when a man rammed into a crowd early on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2025, in New Orleans, LA, Jan. 1, 2025.
Michael Democker/Getty Images
New Orleans first installed metal safety barriers on Bourbon Street in 2017 2016 truck attack on Bastille Day Nice, France. That same year, a report by infrastructure consulting firm AECOM noted that Bourbon Street is “often crowded with pedestrians,” presenting a “risk and target for terrorism.”
Two years later, a security assessment prepared for the French Quarter Management District by security firm Interfor International blamed the bollards installed.
“Some of the bollards could not be operated for various reasons,” said Interfor International President Don Aviv. “Some were broken and some were kept down for ease of use.”
The existence of the 2019 evaluation was the first notify From The New York Times.
Emergency services are called to Bourbon Street after a vehicle plowed into a crowd at Canal and Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Jan. 1, 2025.
Gerald Herbert/AP
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the city was in the process of upgrading malfunctioning bollards before hosting the Super Bowl in February.
“The bollards weren’t up and running because they’re about to finish, hoping for the Super Bowl to finish,” Cantrell said. “Since the City of New Orleans is hosting the Super Bowl this year, it allowed the City of New Orleans to go deeper and deeper with infrastructure improvements.”
Members of the National Guard and police watch a blocked street, one block of Bourbon Street, where at least 15 people were killed on January 1, 2025 in New Orleans, La.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
New Orleans police parked a cruiser to block Bourbon Street on New Year’s Eve.
“We had a plan, but the terrorist defeated it,” said New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick.
A barricade is seen on Royal Street after a vehicle plowed into crowds at Canal and Bourbon streets in New Orleans on January 1, 2025.
George Walker IV/AP
Video of the attack shows the suspect’s truck moving down Canal Street and turning right, moving around the police cruiser onto the sidewalk. Aviv suggested that it shouldn’t be that easy.
“Because of the type of environment French Quarter that is, there should be a systemic process to control traffic and protect pedestrians,” said Aviv.
The French Neighborhood Management District told ABC News in a statement that it always focuses on public safety.
“In 2019, the Council commissioned a study on the Safety and Security of the French Quarter. This study was shared with our partners at the City of New Orleans, and its recommendations were made public,” the statement said. “The strength of our ongoing partnership with the city and the NOPD allows for open communications of resident and business concerns and the results of any studies or reports conducted.”
ABC News’ Jared Kofsky contributed to this report.
