AG to launch full review of New Orleans security plan after Bourbon Street attack: report
Louisiana’s attorney general plans to launch a full review of the security planning that went into the Sugar Bowl and New Year’s Eve as concerns continue to grow about whether New Orleans officials could have done more to prevent the deadly attack on Bourbon Street that killed 14 people and injured dozens, the report said.
NOLA.com reported that Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said she plans to make a formal announcement Monday about the full review, noting that New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick has pledged her full support and cooperation.
Locals and visitors to New Orleans have questioned why a temporary barrier intended to prevent cars from entering Bourbon Street, where Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove his truck through New Year’s Eve traffic in the early morning hours of January 1, was installed instead of erected. , passing a vehicle.
The temporary metal barriers they were installed on Bourbon Street and other areas of the French Quarter in mid-November as the city was in the process of removing the old poles and replacing them with stainless steel poles. That work is expected to continue through January.
BARRICADE SURVEILLANCE IN NEW ORLEANS ‘TERRORIST TARGET AREA’ DURING HIGH SEASON CAUSES CONCERN
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill speaks to the media during a news conference on January 1, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill)
Official recommendations for New Orleans safety measures in the French Quarter, as part of a $2.3 billion infrastructure project that began in 2017, included installing new bollards on Bourbon Street to prevent mass crash events that FBI identified as a potential threat in a popular tourist area.
Security recommendations for the area included street cameras, a central command center, better lighting and high-quality bollards that the US government also uses near its official buildings.
NEW ORLEANS ATTACK: INVESTIGATION CONTINUES, FBI SAYS SECOND SUSPECT NOT INVOLVED
Tourists walk past temporary barriers at Orleans and Bourbon streets, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Former FBI official Bill Daly, security and risk management consultant, told Fox News Digital that the “Achilles heel” in the January 1 tragedy was that the temporary measures used on New Year’s Eve did not provide the same level of protection that was previously intended, designed and envisioned in a report for in 2017
“Temporary barricades are used extensively. They are used, for example, by the New York Police Department in Times Square, to close off all side streets leading to Times Square,” Daly said.
He explained that in New York, authorities place cement blocks on the sidewalk and in the middle of the street as temporary barricades, and also use some vehicles such as garbage trucks and garbage trucks to block the road.
BROTHER OF NEW ORLEANS TERROR SUSPECT SAYS ATTACK SIGN OF ‘RADICALIZATION’: REPORT
A barricade on Bourbon Street (right) is re-erected on January 2, the day after the terrorist attack, while a barrier on another street in the French Quarter (left) appears on January 2. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
In addition to Murrill’s investigation, some city council members said they plan to conduct their own investigation into the security measures that were in place the morning of the attack.
Murrill told NOLA.com that she has spoken with City Council member Helena Moreno, as well as District Attorney Jason Williams and other officials, adding that she intends to speak with others about her plans for a full security review.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“Everyone is committed to getting the full picture of what was done or not done and, importantly, what needs to change to prevent this from ever happening again,” she said.
Murrill’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter.
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin, Garrett Tenney and Ashley Papa contributed to this report.
