New Orleans Police Chief Stuns Reporters When She Admits That She Didn’t Know They Had Sidewalk Barricades Available Before Terrorist Attack

What in the world? We're learning more and more about what happened yesterday after a terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans claimed the life of 14 victims and left dozens more injured. Around 3:15 AM on New Year's Day, 42-year old Shamsud Din Jabbar drove his truck onto the crowded street at a high rate of speed, plowing down pedestrians celebrating the new year before crashing into a construction lift. Jabbar then got out of the car and began shooting, hitting two police officers before being killed after they returned fire. The suspect also had homemade explosive devices in the truck, and several devices were located around the French Quarter and safely disarmed by police. Jabbar had an ISIS flag on the back of his truck, and during a press conference earlier today the FBI said that he had posted several videos expressing his support of ISIS in the hours before the attack, as well as claiming that he had planned on killing his family but didn't believe it would get enough media attention. Obviously there are still plenty of questions to be answered, especially after the FBI initially said they believed that there were others involved before announcing today that they think Jabbar acted alone. But in the meantime, the city is gearing up to host the Sugar Bowl today, after the College Football Playoff game between Georgia and Notre Dame was postponed yesterday in light of the attack. Bourbon Street reopened to the public earlier today, and visitors slowly began making their way back into the French Quarter ahead of the game. But obviously, safety was a top concern for everybody just over a day after the attack, and there were plenty of questions about how officials planned to secure the area keep everyone safe. After the attack, many expressed their concern over the fact that the terrorist was able to get onto Bourbon Street in the first place. The city installed bollards in 2017 to prevent traffic into the crowded pedestrian area, but those bollards weren't working and were in the process of being replaced ahead of New Orleans hosting the Super Bowl next month. And as many have pointed out, the street was blocked off by a police car and the terrorist still managed to drive over the sidewalk to get around it and carry out the attack. The question then becomes, why wasn't the sidewalk blocked off? Well as it turns out, the city owns heavy barricades meant to block the sidewalks from traffic - but the police chief didn't even know about them until the attack. New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick made the stunning admission today while speaking with reporters about the safety plan for Bourbon Street going forward. Kirkpatrick was explaining the yellow "archers" that have been set up on Bourbon Street to protect the sidewalk from vehicle traffic, and was asked why they weren't in use on New Year's Eve: "We have them. I didn't know about them, but we have them, and so we have been able now to put them out." https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1874894171498037254 Excuse me, WHAT? You didn't even know they existed until somebody drove a truck down the sidewalk and onto the busiest street in the city? The reporters seemed stunned by Kirkpatrick's admission, and social media quickly began to criticize the police chief for not even knowing that her department had the equipment in its possession all along: https://twitter.com/rossgarber/status/1874911356190863811 https://twitter.com/Cindy10472484/status/1874909923697631602 https://twitter.com/KateHydeNY/status/1874911910807953585 https://twitter.com/AmericaPapaBear/status/1874894877764571318 Absolutely insane. The 65-year old Kirkpatrick has been the police chief of New Orleans since September 2023, when she was appointed as the interim superintendent by Mayor LaToya Cantrell and confirmed to be the full-time leader of the department in November of 2023. Prior to becoming the head of NOPD, Kirkpatrick was the police chief in Oakland, California from 2017-2020. In August 2024, Kirkpatrick hit two pedestrians with her car while on duty in the French Quarter, with one suffering minor injuries.