Body camera footage of the gunfight between three cops and the assailant who crashed his truck into pedestrians on Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing fourteen people, was made public by the New Orleans Police Department on Friday.
The video, which lasts for around ten seconds, shows two officers standing in front of an open driver’s side door of a white pickup vehicle with their pistols drawn. Before shooting breaks out and officers and a few people flee the car, a voice can be heard saying, “Put your hands up.” Along with a still photo that purports to be a muzzle flash from the assailant’s firearm, the police department also made available a slowed-down version of the same footage.
For the first time, information about the gunfight was made public, including the identities of the officers who killed Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the attacker.
cops Christian Beyer, Jacobie Jordan, and Sgt. Nigel Daggs were named by Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick as the cops who opened fire on the assailant. She referred to them as national heroes and stated that during the incident, they behaved in accordance with departmental policy and the law. Another cop, who does not appear to have fired his firearm, captured the bodycam clip.
At a press conference on Friday morning, she stated, “It’s evident that the officers were well within policy.” Therefore, we are not worried about that.
According to Kirkpatrick, Daggs has been a police officer for 21 years. According to her, Jordan has been an officer for a year and nine months, and Beyer has been one for a year and eleven months.
A reporter was referred to the department’s press office by someone who answered the phone at a number that was listed for Daggs.
Requests for comment were not immediately answered by Jordan. Beyer was unavailable.
Jordan and a fourth cop, 10-year veteran Joseph Rodrigue, who did not use his gun, both suffered thigh wounds but were later discharged from the hospital, according to Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatrick stated that the FBI will look into the possibility that the cops were hit by friendly fire, but he was unable to respond to that question.
William Bratton, the senior police officer in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles, will be hired by the department to advise the city on its security measures following the tragic incident, Kirkpatrick said this week.
Following complaints about the security arrangements in place during the New Year’s celebrations, Bratton, 77, a veteran of more than 50 years in law enforcement, was hired as a tactical expert on evaluating municipal security.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell stated, “This is moving in the right direction in terms of improving public safety measures in the city of New Orleans as we are preparing to host national events like the Super Bowl and even Mardi Gras,” during a press conference on Thursday to formally introduce Bratton in his new role.
According to Cantrell, New Orleans is taking steps to guarantee the long-term safety of our city for both its citizens and its tourists.
According to Bratton, he and his team will investigate how to determine which issues in the field of counterterrorism require attention, including new ones that emerged as a result of that incident. The threat posed by terrorism is always changing and evolving.
He explained that the concept is a learning experience, but that learning experience is then centered on prevention, making sure that something similar doesn’t happen again.
Investigations are underway into the terrorist attack’s circumstances. At the time of the attack, there were no bollards—vehicle security barriers—in place along Bourbon Street, a busy route. Before the city hosted the Super Bowl in February, the barriers—which occasionally broke down—were taken down and replaced after being in place for a number of years. The 700-pound steel Archer barriers that the city had previously employed to guard congested streets were also available, but they were not deployed.
Cantrell and Kirkpatrick have justified the city’s response, claiming that the French Quarter was well guarded by law enforcement, had police cars, and temporary security measures.
Kirkpatrick stated last week that this individual was going to give it his all and that he would have gone elsewhere if it hadn’t been on Bourbon.