Twenty-one victims of the New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans are suing the city, Police Department and city contractors, alleging that the carnage caused by a speeding pickup truck in the French Quarter could have been prevented.
The plaintiffs – among them survivors of the attack that killed 14 people on Bourbon Street – filed the lawsuit on Jan. 29 in the Civil District Court for Orleans Parish. The lawsuit argues that city officials were focused on preparations for the upcoming Super Bowl rather than protecting the public attending New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve festivities and the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl.
In the wake of the Bastille Day truck-ramming attack in Nice, France, in 2016, which left 86 people dead, city officials should have taken additional measures to prevent a similar attack in the French Quarter, according to the lawsuit.
“The horrific events in the early hours of the new year were foreseeable and entirely preventable as a result of a chain of events caused by (the) defendants,” the complaint states. “For nearly a decade, New Orleans' officials and public safety employees, along with their hired consultants and contractors were aware of the risk to the French Quarter, and specifically Bourbon Street, of a coordinated attack involving the use of a motor vehicle to strike and attack pedestrians and other members of the general public.”
The attack was carried out by a lone driver in a rented Ford F-150 truck, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who was fatally shot by New Orleans police officers during a shootout. Jabbar’s victims were not just Louisiana residents but visitors from other states, including Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Connecticut and Texas.
Among the defendants is Mott MacDonald, an engineering firm that the lawsuit faults for designing a faulty system of vehicle barriers in the French Quarter.
“... Mott negligently designed a security plan recommending and implementing poorly designed and manufactured bollard and wedge systems that would not withstand reasonably foreseeable abuse and wear and tear that any system would endure in the busy, rowdy and dirty environment of Bourbon Street and the French Quarter,” the lawsuit states.
But a company spokesperson rejected the accusation in an email to the Louisiana Record.
“Mott MacDonald’s position in this matter is unambiguous,” the spokesperson said. “We have the deepest sympathy for those who have been impacted by this attack and strongly believe the facts demonstrate that our company provided services to the city Of New Orleans in full accord with the terms of its contract and the appropriate standard of care.”
The statement went on to say any allegations to the contrary are unfounded.
“We are confident in our legal position and will present the facts regarding this tragic incident at the appropriate time,” the spokesman said.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants were negligent and that their actions led to the emotional distress the victims now suffer from. The complaint seeks a judgment against all the defendants, compensation for the plaintiffs and attorney fees.
The plaintiffs are represented by the Romanucci & Blandin and Maples & Connick law firms.
“... It’s impossible to quantify how many people now suffer crippling depression, anxiety and nightmares from what they saw and heard during that attack,” Maples & Connick partner Aaron Maples said in a prepared statement. “It is impossible to quantify this tragedy's astounding impact on our community.”