New Orleans had top-of-the-line barriers to prevent car attacks — but didn't use them on New Year's
New Orleans had access to effective anti-vehicle barriers ahead of the Bourbon Street attack on New Year’s Eve revelers that killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more.
New Orleans had access to effective anti-vehicle barriers ahead of the Bourbon Street attack on New Year’s Eve revelers that killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more, but the city did not deploy those barriers until a day after the carnage unfolded, and the head of the local police department said she had been unaware of them.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said Thursday while reopening Bourbon Street that the city had added more protections, including heavy trucks and Archer barriers “that would be preventive if someone had, or if this particular terrorist, went around up on the sidewalk.”
That’s what authorities say occurred just after 3 a.m. Wednesday, when a Texas man inspired by the Islamic State group drove a pickup truck onto a sidewalk filled with people on Bourbon Street, mowing down pedestrians before opening fire on police, wounding two officers and dying in the shootout.
The L-shaped Archer barriers that were installed one day later are portable, reusable and designed to stop a car that is careening toward a pedestrian-only area. The 700-pound steel barriers, which are certified by the Department of Homeland Security, were credited with preventing casualties in a similar incident last year in California at the Rose Parade.
Archer barriers were installed on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Thursday.George Walker IV / APWhen asked about where the Archer barriers came from, Kirkpatrick told reporters: “Actually, we have them. I didn’t know about them, but we have them, and so we have been able now to put them out.”
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