The terrorist who killed 15 people in Louisiana on New Year’s Eve may have taken advantage of temporary construction work to commit the gruesome crime.
The attacker, identified as Texas native Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, managed to drive an electric vehicle into a crowd of partygoers on Bourbon Street in the heart of New Orleans on one of the most heavily guarded nights of the year.
Mechanical barricades that normally prevent traffic from entering the streets during pedestrian hours are currently being replaced, the city’s website said, potentially leaving them vulnerable to such an attack.
A witness at the scene in the French Quarter Tuesday evening said the steel bollards were not in place at the time.
“Those barricades weren’t up, period,” New Orleans resident Jimmy Cothran said CNN. ‘They had those thin orange ones that you could just push over with your finger. We actually thought it was strange.’
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the suspect “went around our barricades,” suggesting there may also have been enough space between the temporary barricades for a vehicle to plow through.
The barricades were first installed in 2017 after the truck ram attack in Nice, France, last year and several drunk driving incidents on Bourbon Street.
After plowing a white Ford SUV into the crowd Tuesday evening, the assailant exited the vehicle, pulled a gun and opened fire, wounding two NOLA police officers who are in stable condition. One officer shot and killed the gunman.
Movable mechanical barricades (pictured in 2020) that normally prevent traffic from entering the streets during pedestrian zones are being replaced, according to the city’s website, potentially leaving them vulnerable to such an attack
Pictured: Map of the New Orleans Department of Public Works’ Bourbon Street Bollard Assessment & Replacement Project
Fifteen people were killed and 30 injured in the horrific attack, which took place around 3:15 a.m. local time in the busy Louisiana city.
The driver rammed into the crowd at a “very rapid pace” and was “very deliberate” with his attack, investigators allege, claiming he was “trying to run over as many people as possible.”
The FBI also found “improvised explosive devices” at the scene and is “working to confirm whether or not it is a viable device.” The agency declined to confirm how many suspicious devices they were investigating.
“We do know that the city of New Orleans has been hit by a terrorist attack,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a news conference early Wednesday morning.
Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick revealed that there were more than 300 officers on duty at the time of the incident
She said the suspect “went around our barricades” to carry out the attack, adding that “he was determined to cause the carnage and damage he caused.”
Kirkpatrick said the incident was “not a DUI situation” and was “more complex and serious based on the information we have now.”
The attack has now been placed under the FBI’s investigation.
Witnesses claim the suspect was “wearing full body armor” and “armed with an assault rifle,” according to social media posts.
The New Orleans terrorist who killed 15 people on New Year’s Eve may have taken advantage of temporary construction to commit the gruesome crime. According to the city’s website, bollards are under construction that normally prevent traffic from entering the street
At least fifteen people were killed and thirty were injured after a driver rammed into the large group at high speed, then got out and started firing a weapon.
Videos circulating on social media that appear to have been recorded at the scene show multiple victims on the ground as shots ring out in the background. People were also seen running from the area.
Dozens of police officers responded to the attack and part of the road was cordoned off.
Paramedics and vehicles from the coroner’s office were also seen at the scene. Ambulances transported the injured to five hospitals in the region.
A man, who claimed to have witnessed the incident while out with his wife, wrote on X that he saw an SUV “speeding” down the road and “running people over.”
Another alleged witness told WLWT she saw the vehicle hit the crowd and multiple officers open fire on the suspect. She says she started running and was only able to escape “by the grace of God.”
Kevin Garcia, 22, said the car “smashed into everyone on the left side of Bourbon’s sidewalk.” He heard gunshots and claimed “a body was flying towards me,” CNN reported.
Whit Davis, a 22-year-old witness from Shreveport, Louisiana, said he was at a nightclub when the attack occurred. He recalled how people “started running and hiding under tables” in a scene that resembled “an active shooter exercise.”
Police then detained him and a group of partygoers in the bar, Davis told the BBC, noting that when they were finally allowed to leave the establishment, they “walked past dead and injured bodies all over the street.”
Bourbon Street, famous for its many bars and clubs, is reportedly closed while investigators work on the scene. People are advised to stay away from the area.
Videos circulating on social media that appear to have been recorded at the scene show multiple victims on the ground as shots ring out in the background. People were also seen running from the area
The horror unfolded around 3:15 a.m. local time on Wednesday when the vehicle, which appeared to be a Ford SUV (pictured), drove into the crowd.
“The 8th Precinct is currently responding to a mass casualty incident involving a vehicle driving into a large crowd at Canal and Bourbon streets,” NOLA Ready, the city’s official emergency preparedness agency, said in a statement.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has condemned the “heinous” attack and said he is “praying for all the victims and first responders on the scene.”
“Earlier this morning a horrific act of violence occurred on Bourbon Street,” Landry tweeted. ‘ Please join Sharon and me in praying for all the victims and first responders on the scene. I urge anyone in the area to avoid the area.”
The incident occurred near the end of New Year’s celebrations in New Orleans and hours before kickoff of the AllState Bowl, a college football quarterfinal held at the city’s Caesars Superdome, where thousands were expected to attend.
New Orleans has seen shootings and cars colliding with crowds during previous parades.
In November 2024, two people were killed and 10 others injured in two separate shootings along a New Orleans parade route and a celebration attended by thousands, local media reported.
In February 2017, a pickup truck driven by a man who police said appeared to be highly intoxicated plowed into a crowd of spectators watching New Orleans’ main Mardi Gras parade, injuring more than 20 people.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the New Orleans Police Department for more information.