The New Year's Day attack in New Orleans that left 10 dead and dozens injured was possible in part because barricades meant to protect pedestrians on Bourbon Street were being replaced.
Bourbon Street is known for its nightlife. The street is often closed to traffic allowing people to walk freely down the street to visit restaurants, bars and clubs.
Security barriers were installed in 2017 to stop the exact sort of attack that happened on Jan. 1. However, the barriers were in the process of being replaced with stronger barriers at the time of the attack, nola.com reported. The removable stainless-steel bollards are designed to be securely locked at each crosswalk along Bourbon Street, the website reported.
"They [old barriers] were very ineffective. The track was always full of crap; beads and doubloons and God knows what else. Not the best idea," Bob Simms, who oversees security initiatives for the French Quarter Management District told nola.com. "Eventually everybody realized the need to replace them. They're in the process of doing that, but the new ones are not yet operational."
Simms said the new barriers were being installed and the goal was to have them in place in time for the Super Bowl. Without the barriers in place, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar was able to drive over the sidewalk and access Bourbon Street, avoiding a police squad car that was blocking the road.
A witness told CNN that security measures to prevent a vehicular attack were lacking.
"Those barricades were not up, period," Jimmy Cothran, a New Orleans resident, told CNN. "They had the flimsy orange ones that you could just push over with your finger. We actually thought it was kind of odd."
