New Orleans, LA — A legal battle is looming in the wake of a devastating terror attack on New Year’s Day in New Orleans, where a man drove a truck into a crowd, resulting in 14 deaths and injuring 35 others. Maples & Connick, LLC, a law firm, announced its intent to file a lawsuit against the city and the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) for alleged negligence that purportedly allowed the attack to occur.
The firm is scheduled to formally file the lawsuit at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday. It alleges that both the city and NOPD failed to uphold basic safety measures which could have prevented the tragedy, claiming that these oversights led to unnecessary loss of life and injury during prestigious seasonal festivities.
The attack unfolded when Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas, intentionally drove a rented Ford pickup truck through a crowd gathered on Bourbon Street after midnight on January 1. Authorities confirmed that Jabbar had also plotted to detonate two explosive devices placed on the street prior to his vehicular assault. Police fatally shot Jabbar during a confrontation that involved an exchange of gunfire.
In response to the incident, Mayor LaToya Cantrell and other city officials are facing scrutiny regarding the lack of physical barriers on the street during the attack. The barriers, known as bollards, had been removed for maintenance in anticipation of upcoming events like the Super Bowl on February 9, though alternative safety measures were claimed to have been put in place for New Year’s Eve festivities.
NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick defended the presence and positioning of barriers and police units during the event, despite the outcome. “We did have a car there, we had barriers there, we had officers there, and they still got around,” Kirkpatrick stated in a press conference.
This incident brought back to light a security report from November 2019, prepared by a private security firm for the organization managing the city’s French Quarter. The report had labeled the bollards as faulty and urged immediate repairs. It also ominously predicted the likelihood of vehicular ramming and active shooting as potential methods of attack.
Now, as the community mourns and struggles to recover, the lawsuit by Maples & Connick aims to hold those responsible accountable. The firm has called on the family members of victims and survivors to come forward, emphasizing the deep emotional and physical scars borne by those caught in the tragic events. They assert that the affected individuals and the city at large deserve answers and accountability for the failures that led to such a profound tragedy.
Authorities continue to investigate Jabbar’s motives, revealing that he had declared his allegiance to ISIS before carrying out the attack.
This tragic event underscores the ongoing challenges of ensuring public safety during major public gatherings and raises significant legal and procedural questions.
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