The city of New Orleans had begun replacing security barriers along Bourbon Street before Wednesday’s truck attack, which killed at least 10 people and injured more than 30, and officials conceded a stop-gap security plan did not work.
The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was able to drive around a police car and onto the sidewalk.
“We did indeed have a plan, but the terrorists defeated it,” New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said during a press conference, adding that the prior barriers had suffered malfunction issues.
In response to vehicle attacks on pedestrian malls around the world, New Orleans was in the process of removing and replacing the barriers known as bollards that restrict vehicle traffic in the Bourbon Street pedestrian zone. The barriers had first been installed in 2017 ahead of the NBA All-Star game as part of a $40 million security plan….