As New Orleans prepares to reopen Bourbon Street to the public in the wake of the deadly New Year’s Day truck attack, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said there would be an “unprecedented” law enforcement presence prior to the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Thursday.
At a news conference Thursday, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the city would reopen Bourbon Street to the public at 3:30 p.m. ET Thursday, a half hour before No. 2 Georgia and No. 7 Notre Dame are scheduled to play in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game at the Sugar Bowl.
The Sugar Bowl was originally scheduled to be played Wednesday night, but the game was pushed back a day after a deadly pickup truck attack on Bourbon Street killed 14 people and injured dozens more.
The FBI on Thursday said it believes the driver of a truck that drove around a police barricade and rammed into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day acted alone.
“I want to rest [assure] people that right now in the city of New Orleans, there’s an unprecedented amount of law enforcement resources that are being utilized to close out and to hunt down and finalize this investigation,” Landry said.
Landry said members of the Louisiana National Guard, as well as correctional officers and members of other state law enforcement divisions have been deployed to the city to help with security.