(NewsNation) — New Orleans law enforcement officials said bollards typically used to prevent traffic on Bourbon Street were not operable when a 42-year-old Texas man entered the popular tourist destination at a high rate of speed early Wednesday, killing 15 people and injuring 35 more.
The man, who was identified as Shamsud Din Jabbar, drove a rented Ford truck onto Bourbon Street just after 3 a.m. in what the FBI is characterizing as an act of terrorism.
Police officials are now facing questions about why bollards that have been used to close off the street from traffic were not in place on New Year’s Eve and into early Wednesday when the attack took place.
What is a bollard?
Bollards are short, vertical posts that are used to serve as physical and visual barriers and are typically constructed of stainless steel, aluminum or concrete.
According to the New Orleans Department of Public Works, the existing bollards along Bourbon Street were being removed and replaced as part of a project that began in November. Work was scheduled to continue into February and included replacing the current bollards with new removable bollards made of stainless steel.
According to Fox 8 in New Orleans, the installation of the bollards in 2017 was part of a $40 million safety plan. The system consisted of four sets of barriers placed on either side of Bourbon Street intersections. The station said that the inner two columns can be pushed back when it is unlocked by a ground-level control panel.
The new bollard system would have allowed the devices to be locked behind each crosswalk, the city said. During the recent construction project, the old bollards were removed and replaced by asphalt patches that allowed vehicle access.
Bollards were not in place at time of deadly attack
Witnesses told NewsNation on Wednesday that barricades were not in place at the time of the attack. At a news conference on Wednesday, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said that Jabbar drove the truck up onto the sidewalk, which gave him access to Bourbon Street.
The bollard replacement project began less than eight years after they were installed. Shortly after being installed, the bollards began to malfunction, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said. The city said that the bollard replacement project began in preparation for the city hosting the Super Bowl in early February.
Bollards were not in place Wednesday because the project was nearing completion, Cantrell said.
Kirkpatrick said that police officials have been aware of issues with the bollard system for some time. She said that because the bollards were not operable, police vehicles were parked at Bourbon Street to prevent traffic from getting through on New Year’s Eve.
However, she said Jabbar drove around the vehicles and onto the sidewalk to carry out the attack.
“We had a car there, we had barriers there, we had officers there,” Kirkpatrick said. “And (Jabbar) got around it.
She added: “We did indeed have a plan, but the terrorist defeated it.”
Kirkpatrick said that if bollards had been in place, they would have prevented ambulances and first responders from reaching victims killed or injured during the attack.
However, New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno said that the absence of the bollards was not the reason the attack took place.
“This person was determined to inflict pain and death and harm on Bourbon Street, and I think he would have done that anyway he could,” Moreno said, according to MetroWest Daily News.
Sidney Torres, president of IV Waste and founder of the French Quarter Task Force, told NewsNation that investigators have ordered sanitation crews not to remove trash cans or garbage from the area as they search for suspicious packages.
“They want to dig through the garbage. They found some packages on certain streets that they’re dealing with,” Torres said.
The police vehicle positioned where the bollards would normally stand forced the attacker’s truck to alter its course, potentially preventing more casualties. Torres said that a light tower ultimately stopped the vehicle’s advance.
“If that light tower wouldn’t have been put there for more visibility on Bourbon Street, that truck would have killed a lot more people,” Torres said.
NewsNation’s Rich McHugh contributed to this report.