Dozens of New Year's victims Terrorist attack On Bourbon Street in New Orleans they are filing lawsuits against the city and its police department.
Terrorist Shams al-Din Jabbar from Texas 14 civilians were killed He injured dozens of others when he rammed his Ford-150 into crowds of people celebrating the New Year on a famous New Orleans street around 3 a.m. on January 1. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with police.
One lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of seven victims by Morris Bart, LLC targets the city of New Orleans and Hard Rock Construction and Engineering Company Mott MacDonald, LLC, alleging that they were negligent in providing security measures that could have prevented the tragedy.
“We have conducted an extensive investigation and believe that the three defendants we named in the lawsuit could – and should – have taken steps to prevent this tragedy,” Maurice Bart said in a statement. “Our hope is that through this lawsuit, we can help prevent future tragedies.”
Nathan Williams, a University of New Orleans student, lights a candle on Jan. 3, 2025, at a memorial on Bourbon Street for the victims of a fatal truck attack on New Year's Day in New Orleans. (AP)
The defendants “had years of opportunity to fix this known problem,” and “(c) the city's contractors failed to fulfill their contractual obligations and perform the work in the specified order and manner,” the suit says.
“One scenario presented by Mott MacDonald eight months before this tragedy involved a Ford F-150 truck specifically turning right onto Bourbon Street from Canal Street, a shockingly similar threat that seemed predictable prior to December 31.”
“Had Mott MacDonald competently provided engineering services to the City that posed known threats, Mr. Jabbar’s access to Bourbon Street could have been completely prevented,” the complaint concluded.
A second lawsuit is expected to be filed against the city of New Orleans and the New Orleans Police Department on behalf of at least two dozen victims.
Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies are working on Bourbon Street after 14 people were killed when a terrorist drove into the crowd in the early morning hours of New Year's Day in New Orleans. (Michael DeMocker/Getty Images)
Maples Conic, LLC, new orleans law firm, It launched a civil investigation into the attack and partnered with the Chicago-based mass casualty law firm Romanucci & Blandin, which has represented victims in several recent mass casualty events and attacks.
“Residents and visitors trust New Orleans officials to ensure their safety, and it is deeply troubling to have preliminary information that municipal leaders were clearly aware of Bourbon Street’s vulnerability to the predictable and preventable events that ultimately occurred on January 1.” . & Blandin co-founder Antonio M. Romanucci said in a statement.
He added: “The violation of the public trust is disturbing, and we are deeply committed to seeking accountability in this case.”
“There has to be accountability for leaving these people vulnerable to this harm and trauma,” said Aaron Maples, partner of Maples Connick.
Investigators work after a terrorist drove a car into a crowd of people at Canal and Bourbon streets in New Orleans on January 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
The City of New Orleans and the New Orleans Police Department do not comment on pending litigation.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Morrell It is conducting its own independent review into possible security vulnerabilities that may have led to the Bourbon Street attack, telling Fox News Digital that its investigation is still in the “very early stages.”
“These are regular events in the city,” Morrell said, noting that New Year's Eve, the Sugar Bowl, Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl are all part of the planning for recent events in the city. “So, I think I want to understand what the pressures are and who the different players are so that we can figure out how to make sure that we have an infrastructure that is effective and adequate and rises to the threats that we face.” Facing this city.”
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Morell speaks to the media on January 1, 2025, in New Orleans. (Louisiana Attorney General Liz Morrill)
Morell described New Orleans as a “joyful city” where there is “always a lot of activity that brings thousands of people together in the streets for parades” and other celebrations.
“There are different aspects to this process that will ultimately determine how we make lasting change.”
“I think the city is going to have to grow in its concept of itself,” Morrell said.
On New Year's Eve, the existing poles on Bourbon Street were in the process of being replaced, a procedure that began Nov. 19, according to the city's website.
A New Orleans police car blocks the entrance to Bourbon Street on January 2, 2025, near the site where a man driving a truck was killed in an attack during New Year's celebrations in New Orleans. (Reuters/Octavio Jones)
While the replacement process was ongoing, officials installed a temporary barrier where Bourbon Street meets Canal Street, likely to prevent suspicious vehicles from driving into the busy tourist area. However, according to local business owners and employees who previously spoke with Fox News Digital, that temporary barrier was put up rather than raised, allowing vehicles to pass on the holiday.
Official recommendations for security measures in New Orleans 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 casualty events that the FBI has identified as a potential threat in the popular tourist area. region.
The city began planning updated security measures, including barricades intended to prevent vehicles from entering the busy streets of the French Quarter, around that time.
Matthias Hauswirth of New Orleans prays in the street near the site where the terrorist led a mob down the New Orleans Canal and Bourbon streets on January 1, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
“The French Quarter is often densely populated with pedestrians and represents an area where a mass casualty incident could occur.” says the 2017 report. “This area also represents a dangerous area and target for terrorism which the FBI has identified as a concern the city must address.
“Following the attacks in Nice, France, in London, England, and the recent Times Square incident in New York which suggested that bollards saved lives, it has become clear how attackers can threaten popular tourist areas with vehicles and weapons.”
A separate, confidential 2019 report obtained by Fox News from the security consulting firm Interfor International warned that Bourbon Street was the “most notorious target” in New Orleans for a terrorist attack. The 60-page security assessment commissioned by the French Quarter Management District bluntly states, “The current barrier system on Bourbon Street appears not to be working.”
Multiple security experts told Fox News' Garrett Tenney that the current barrier system, even if it existed, would not be strong enough to stop a massive attack due to the low failure rates of the system being installed and the F-size and high speeds. 150 trucks arrived.
Tourists walk through temporary barriers at Orleans and Bourbon Street, January 2, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Interfor International said in its 2019 report that it “strongly recommends that barrier mobilization be immediately reformed/improved.”
Sources told Fox News Interfor International did not hear back from the city after filing the report, although there is almost always some type of follow-up after a report like this.
Morell told Fox News Digital she is aware of the 2019 report and plans to obtain a copy as part of her review.
Samantha Petrie places flowers at a memorial at Canal and Bourbon Streets on January 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
She said there are questions for several public departments that may have been involved in security planning in the French Quarter on New Year's Eve.
“What role did they play? I don’t know the answer to all of these questions yet,” she said. “I think… there are a lot of reports of what’s going on.” “It brings together a lot of different information. But at the state level, we need to bring it together and look at this from a security management and disaster planning perspective…that integrates with the existing, local, state, and pre-existing federal management structure.”
The FBI has released images from surveillance footage showing Shamseddine Jabbar an hour before he drove a truck down Bourbon Street in New Orleans in early January 2025. (FBI via AP)
The FBI continues to investigate the attack and said Jabbar was motivated by ISIS extremism.
Federal authorities announced last week that Jabbar had previously visited New Orleans on two occasions — once on October 30, 2024, and once on November 10, 2024. The attacker had also visited Cairo, Egypt, and Toronto, Canada, before the attack. The FBI said.
While Jabbar appears to have acted alone, authorities are still investigating whether he had any accomplices.
