Malfunctioning security bollards were removed from Bourbon St. prior to New Orleans attack
Security barriers in New Orleans that were intended to protect pedestrians from vehicles but at times malfunctioned were removed for replacement before an attacker drove a pickup truck into a crowd along Bourbon Street.
Security barriers in New Orleans that were intended to protect pedestrians from vehicles but at times malfunctioned were removed for replacement before an attacker drove a pickup truck into a crowd along Bourbon Street on Wednesday morning, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more.
City officials said other barriers, vehicles and law enforcement officers deployed strategically on Bourbon Street failed to prevent the attacker from driving onto the sidewalk, where he ran into pedestrians at about 3:15 a.m. local time on New Year’s Day.
New Orleans was replacing the older barriers, known as bollards, ahead of the city’s hosting the Super Bowl in February, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
“Bollards were not up because they are near completion, with the expectation of being completed before the Super Bowl,” she said.
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