New Orleans NYE Mass Killing

NEW ORLEANS, La. — A tragic incident unfolded in the vibrant French Quarter of New Orleans, where at least 10 lives were lost and 3 dozen others sustained injuries after a man in a pickup truck deliberately drove into a crowd. Authorities described the driver as "hell-bent" on causing carnage.

According to Police Superintendent Kirkpatrick “It was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he could."

After the vehicle stopped, the driver emerged and opened fire on responding officers. Officers returned fire, killing the driver, police said. Two officers were wounded and are in stable condition, police said. They were in addition to dozens of other people injured in the vehicle attack.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell called the incident a “terrorist attack.” Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating what occurred early Wednesday, when the vehicle drove into a crowd.

During a press conference, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick further revealed that the suspect maneuvered around barricades, aiming to hit as many pedestrians as possible on Bourbon Street. However, a witness disputed this, stating that no barricades were present, which allowed the driver to speed down Bourbon Street at 70 miles per hour for eight blocks. The city maintained that removable stainless-steel bollards were supposed to be in place but were being replaced at the time of the incident, which occurred just hours into the New Year, resulting in ten fatalities and numerous injuries.

According to Mayor LaToya Cantrell's administration, these bollards are intended to be securely locked at each crosswalk along Bourbon Street, specifically between Canal and St. Ann streets. The attack took place near the intersection of Bourbon and Iberville streets, where witnesses reported the absence of barricades.

The project to replace the bollards began in November and was expected to take three months, involving the removal and replacement of road sections to install new barriers. A city press release on Tuesday evening confirmed that the project was still ongoing but lacked specific updates on the progress made.

Bob Simms, a former security consultant for the French Quarter Management District, commented on the situation, stating that the old barricades were largely ineffective. "They never worked too well. The track was always cluttered with beads and doubloons and who knows what else. It wasn’t the best solution,” Simms remarked. He noted that the need for replacement was recognized, but the new barricades were not yet operational, and the old ones at the Canal and Bourbon streets crosswalk had been removed a few weeks prior.

My question is, when NYE is one of the 5 busiest times for the French Quarter, why weren't better safety precautions taken?

More on this as details emerge.

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BREAKING Update: From Fox News: It looks like President Elect Trump took this 'opportunity' to self aggrandize his standpoint on immigrant in the US by saying the following:

"When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true, The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!"

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In my opinion only, Trump will do anything he can to turn a horrible situation to the favor of his political views and standpoints. I further wonder if Trump would still be spouting the same empathizing condolences had this have been a Pride parade the truck rammed into? I know Biden would have. I truly worry for the further carnage that will occur as well with this new regime coming into office this month.

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Thanks for reading! - Sam