Summary
Authorities identified Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, as the suspect in the New Orleans truck ramming attack that killed 10 people and injured 35 on New Year’s Day.
Jabbar, who died in a shootout with police, allegedly drove a truck with a black flag possibly linked to ISIS. The FBI is investigating the attack as a potential terrorist act.
Weapons and suspected explosive devices were found in Jabbar’s vehicle and near the scene.
Officials are also investigating reports that Jabbar fired a rifle into the crowd and whether IEDs near the site were operational.
When I say closed I mean converted to pedestrian and not accessible unless someone is standing there with a key to let the delivery truck in.
People can downvote all they want, cars don’t belong in urban centers like this.
Super blocks in Spain is what I have in mind
I have a feeling that after this, they will install those retractable giant pilons they use in places like government buildings rather than a parked patrol car. It is sad that it takes a tragedy to get the gears moving.
They’re already doing that. They were upgrading them to be in time for the Superbowl.
Completely agree. I think if it’s possible to drive around the barricades, then the area isn’t actually closed to the degree that I want to see.
A bit of a side point. Something I wonder about a lot, as a tradesman in the US, is implementation of restricted vehicle use in city centers while maintaining materials delivery and maintenance.
Since you support removing cars from city centers, how are these logistical challenges addressed? Genuine question, btw. I don’t disagree with you, but I am curious. I’m not familiar with Spanish super blocks. How do they work? How are goods, materials, and equipment delivered? I’m lazy and want answers delivered like pizza
Basically there are bollards that fold down or retract electronically.
The university I worked at had the folding kind. We just had a key that allowed us to remove the locks and fold them down for deliveries. The area was completely inaccessible to anything bigger than a motorcycle when the bollards were up.
An attacker could just cut through the locks, but that requires them to exit the vehicle and tamper with them while cops are standing right there.
Were I to design a more sophisticated system, I’d install the retracting kind and have something like what those gated communities have where any authorized business can open the bollards by answering a phone call and pressing a certain number.
This could be compromised, of course, but it raises the skill floor necessary to carry out an attack.
Gotcha, that’s how it is around the university in my area too, to a degree. Not the removable bollards, but the restricted access to maintenance and delivery vehicles. There are barriers, but the infrastructure could be better.
One of the issues I run into at work is my own forgetfulness. When I’m working a high rise or warehouse, no matter how much I prepare and load up my rolling tool cart, I wind up having to go back to the van at least twice per job. I actually charge a facility surcharge when i have to work more than 100m from my van, just to account for the extra time I spend. I’m a locksmith, and there are so many specialty tools that i can’t carry them all. This is especially true when I’m working a multistory residential building with no elevator. So up and down I go.
Anyway, it’s a subject of interest for me. Something needs to be done, especially in city centers. It’s just that most anti-car comments I see don’t seem to take into consideration the logistics of materials and maintenance. Thanks for the nuanced explanation
Yeah that’s why I’d want them removable or retractable. The goal is to keep dip shits like me, or malicious actors, from bringing their car in.
If someone calls you then they need to let your van in so that you can do your job without that added hassle.
I think my ideal system would be like those gated communities. Anyone that manages a business, or lives in the area, can buzz a car in for deliveries and maintenance. Obviously that weakens security but it’d at least prevent opportunistic attacks and drunks.
People with a right to drive into the area are either issued keys or someone with keys lets them in and out.
At least that’s how those areas work in my Australian town. One or two bollards are removable or lowerable after unlocking them
For really low car usage areas you need a heavy forklift to move a one tonne plant pot
This seems like the most practical solution to pedestrian centered design. I just didn’t see a reality with 0 vehicle traffic in a densely populated area. Roads existed before automobiles, and exist for a reason.
Thanks for the reply
How do you move goods around a large warehouse? Forklifts and hand trucks. It’s the same shit without a roof.
That seems… overly simplistic. Have you actually seen this in action or are you giving your opinion on what should be done?
I live in a car-centric area, so I don’t get to see much in the way of pedestrian centered infrastructure. Even pedestrian focused shopping areas and universities have roads for materials deliveries and maintenance equipment, although passenger vehicles are prohibited. Those places are as vulnerable to a vehicle attack as any other.
Yes, it’s a normal thing for businesses that require heavy deliveries to use a forklift and unload at the nearest accessible side street. Usually a half block away in some alley.
Edit: but to add, how does it work in your area if a business doesn’t have a loading dock? Are you not allowed to unload with a forklift in the street? That seems kind of similar, just parking directly in front vs further away.
Usually the truck pulls right up in front of the business. Depending on the size the building might have a loading dock, but for most businesses a box truck pulls up and materials are delivered by dolly directly to the business. Some delivery trucks have a lift gate, but most deliveries are by dolly, not pallet truck.
Half a block isn’t bad. Is there a designated loading/unloading area? I know here downtown street parking is restricted but deliver drivers will stop wherever they like, up to and including in the center turn lane. I kinda miss the NYC loading zones tbh, although i didn’t own a car for most of my time there. I wish we had a fifth of that public transit infrastructure here.
Does that mean someone with a key let this guy’s truck in?
From what I can find, the only barricades were the police barricade and he went around it