Lawsuit by New Orleans truck attack victims says city, contractors failed to implement safety system Six people who were injured and the father of a man who was killed in the New Year's truck attack filed a lawsuit Thursday against the City of New Orleans and two contractors, claiming they failed to protect revelers from an Army veteran who sped around a police blockade and raced down Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring at least 30.
The attack by Shamsud-Din Jabbar was tragic but preventable, leaving the six victims with broken bones, physical suffering and mental anguish and killing Brandon Taylor, according to the lawsuit filed in Orleans Parish Civil District Court by Matthew Hemmer with the Morris Bart Law Firm.
New Orleans sought advice on the risk of this type of attack in the French Quarter and invested $40 million in public safety improvement projects, including acquiring portable bollards — protective columns designed to block vehicle traffic —to keep cars off Bourbon Street.
Email and phone messages left with the City of New Orleans, Mayor LaToya Cantrell, and contractors Mott MacDonald and Hard Rock Construction seeking comment on the lawsuit were not immediately returned.
The plaintiffs, who are seeking unspecified damages, include Alexis Windham, who suffered impact and gunshot injuries to her foot, and Corian Evans, Jalen Lilly, Justin Brown, Shara Frison and Gregory Townsend, who suffered broken bones and other injuries.
