New Year’s Day turned from celebration to tragedy, when a Texas man driving a rented white pickup truck, flying an ISIS flag on his rear bumper plowed his vehicle through multiple people on Bourbon Street, in New Orleans. This led to 15 people deceased, and more than 30 people injured.
The attacker was shot and killed shortly after his heinous crime. The case is still under investigation, but the FBI seems to think it was an intentional act of terrorism.
People all over the world have been impacted by this tragedy, not only adults but students too, wondering if their town or street could be next.
“This tragedy makes me more mindful when I go to parades and places in bigger crowds when there are people out there that would do these types of things,” sophomore Rylee Mcdonald said.
Not only students have heard of this news but also teachers. This shared experience now known within the school will create a sense of solidarity in the students, while also changing their own reactions and emotions.
“In our country, I’m not going to let it defer me. I have strong trust in security and don’t think this will be an ongoing issue, theater teacher Jeff Schaetzke said. My wife and I had a trip planned to New York a few weeks after 9/11. We decided what happened, had happened, and we wouldn’t let it defer us. We still went on the trip.”
FBI says this man was working alone since no person or foreign terror organization has claimed responsibility for the act. A law firm looking into this case suggests this is considered a “predictable and preventable” tragedy. Politicians blame this event on New Orleans’ removal of the street’s bollards, which are steel columns designed to restrict vehicle access. These bollards move in and out of the ground and during the time of the attack, the street bollards weren’t working.
