“We have these hydraulic steel barriers from past events — last Mardi Gras this happened to an extent, maybe not terrorism, but still people getting hit in mass population with vehicles. Those barricades were not up, period,” said witness Jimmy Cothran.
An eyewitness to the New Orleans New Year’s attack told CNN Wednesday morning that metal barricades were not in place to protect the crowd from drivers. A driver who has yet to be identified killed 10 and injured dozens of others after driving through a crowd on a busy street and then opening fire. The FBI is investigating the incident as a terror attack. The city confirmed that the barricades were in the process of being replaced ahead of the Super Bowl LIX, per WDSU.
"We have these hydraulic steel barriers from past events — last Mardi Gras this happened to an extent, maybe not terrorism, but still people getting hit in mass population with vehicles. Those barricades were not up, period," said Jimmy Cothran.
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View on X"They had the flimsy orange ones that you can just push over with your finger. We actually thought it was kind of odd cause usually when you get to Bourbon Street you can turn your back to Canal and not worry about anything you can just walk the street, especially on New Year’s. And there was still vehicles coming after 8 pm."
Cothran said that the barricades not being up was how "this guy was able to get down Bourbon Street so quickly and cause so much damage," adding that there are barricades every "two to three blocks." He said the number of dead and injured would have been minimized if the barricades were up because the truck would not be able to get around them.
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