NEW ORLEANS – The two New Orleans Police Department officers injured in the Jan. 1 terrorist attack on Bourbon Street that left 15 dead, including attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar, are recovering after they heroically neutralized the ISIS-motivated perpetrator, according to their attorney.
NOPD officers fatally shot Jabbar after he drove an electric Ford F-150 pickup truck through a New Year’s crowd around 3:15 a.m. on Jan. 1, killing 14 civilians and opening fire on police in an act of terror motivated by Islamic extremism.
“They are both expected to make a full recovery,” NOPD attorney Eric Hessler, a former NOPD officer himself, told Fox News Digital.
The two officers, whose identities have not yet been released, were en route to an unrelated call early New Year’s morning when “the vehicle just flew past them and struck the crane,” Hessler said.
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“Within seconds, they reacted and began to do what they were trained to do and what the situation required that they do,” Hessler explained.
The officers immediately began to determine whether the vehicle crash was intentional or not, and when they realized it was more than likely intentional, police drew their weapons to address the active threat.
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“They handled it correctly. They handled it the way they were trained. And they’re handling the aftermath, as difficult as it is, in the way that they were trained,” the attorney said.
Street camera video from the morning of the attack shows a group of officers standing near Bourbon Street immediately run toward danger when the call came in about a suspicious vehicle incident.
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Hessler further described the responding officers’ actions as “heroic” and “well thought-out.”
“They didn’t have a chance to make actual tactical decisions amongst themselves. They acted as a team. Some of these men and women didn’t work together ever before,” the attorney said. “Many were from different jurisdictions. But the individual officers who were closer to the scene, who acted on a threat and eliminated the threat, did everything that you would expect them to do and more, especially under these circumstances.”
FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said Thursday that authorities believe Jabbar acted alone. Officials also located two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in different locations in the French Quarter after the terrorist attack. They were placed in coolers.
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Before his rampage in New Orleans, Jabbar posted several videos on Facebook declaring his support for the Islamic State (ISIS), the FBI said at a news conference Thursday.
Victims of the attack identified as of Thursday include Martin “Tiger” Bech, 27; Drew Dauphin, 26; Nikyra Dedeaux, 18; Nicole Perez, 28; Reggie Hunter, 37; Hubert Gauthreaux, 21; Kareem Bilal Badawi. 18; Matthew Tenedorio, 25; Billy DiMaio, 25; and Terrence Kennedy, 63.
