Victims of the New Year’s terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans are now suing the city and its police department. The attack took place early on January 1, when Shamsud-Din Jabbar from Texas drove a Ford-150 truck into a crowd celebrating New Year’s. He killed 14 people and injured many others before being shot and killed by police.
On Thursday, a lawsuit was filed by Morris Bart, LLC, on behalf of seven victims. The lawsuit targets the City of New Orleans, Hard Rock Construction, and engineering firm Mott MacDonald. It claims that these parties were negligent in providing necessary security measures that could have prevented the attack. The lawsuit says the defendants had several opportunities to address known security risks before the tragedy.
The lawsuit highlights that Mott MacDonald had identified a similar risk months before the attack. The engineering firm had even predicted the possibility of a truck like Jabbar’s entering Bourbon Street. The plaintiffs argue that better security planning could have stopped Jabbar from reaching the street altogether.
A second lawsuit, representing at least two dozen victims, is also expected. The law firm Maples Connick, LLC, along with Romanucci & Blandin, a mass disaster law firm, is investigating the attack. They are focused on how New Orleans officials were aware of Bourbon Street’s vulnerability to such incidents but failed to take the necessary precautions.
New Orleans has long been known for hosting large public events, like New Year’s celebrations, Mardi Gras, and the Super Bowl. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is reviewing what went wrong with security measures in place for the New Year’s celebration. She has emphasized the need to improve infrastructure and ensure that New Orleans can handle potential threats more effectively.
Before the attack, the city was in the process of replacing bollards, which are barriers meant to stop vehicles from entering areas with large crowds. However, a temporary barrier installed at the intersection of Bourbon and Canal streets was not set up correctly, allowing vehicles to pass through. Security reports had identified Bourbon Street as a potential target for terrorist attacks, but the existing bollard system was deemed inadequate.
A 2019 report from the security consulting firm Interfor International specifically warned that the bollard system on Bourbon Street was not strong enough to prevent an attack like the one Jabbar carried out. Despite these warnings, the city did not take immediate action to strengthen the barriers. Attorney General Murrill is now reviewing the 2019 report and other relevant information as part of her investigation.
The FBI has stated that Jabbar was motivated by extremist views linked to ISIS. Investigators have revealed that Jabbar visited New Orleans several months before the attack and also traveled to Cairo and Toronto. Although Jabbar reportedly acted alone, the FBI is continuing its investigation to determine if he had any accomplices.
As the lawsuits and investigations unfold, the victims and their families are seeking justice and accountability for the security failures that allowed this devastating attack to happen.