NOPD releases bodycam footage of New Year's Day attack
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In a still image captured from officer Luis Robles' body camera footage, the NOPD has highlighted, in the red circle, what its investigators say is the flash of the first shot fired in the New Year's Day attack. Officer Christian Beyer stands to the left of the open truck door, and officer Jacobie Jordan stands to the right. Image: Courtesy of NOPD
New Orleans police released body camera footage Friday showing the shootout that injured at least two officers and one bystander and killed the person investigators say drove his truck through a busy Bourbon Street early on New Year's Day.
Why it matters: The video is only about 12 seconds long but takes place during the crucial period between when the suspect crashed his vehicle and when he was killed.
Zoom in: The video, captured from NOPD officer Luis Robles' body camera, begins as Robles runs toward the suspect's crashed white Ford F-150. As he arrives, two officers are seen on either side of the truck's open door and the suspect sits in the driver's seat. Officer Christian Beyer is at the left, and officer Jacobie Jordan is at the right of the door.
- Beyer opened the door, identified himself and told the suspect to exit the truck, according to NOPD Sgt. Michael Guasco, who is part of the internal team that investigates any officer-involved shooting.
- The officers visible in the video have flashlights and weapons drawn. A third officer, Sgt. Nigel Daggs, was standing at the front of the truck, out of the camera's sight.
- A flash from the truck's open door flares in what Guasco says is the first shot fired. Then, a volley of gunfire erupts as Robles runs back the way he came toward Canal Street. Two other NOPD officers run in front of him as the gunfire continues, both landing flat on their stomachs amid the gunshots as a pair of handcuffs skitters to the ground near Robles.
The suspect died at the scene.
Between the lines: In the video, most of what's visible of Bourbon Street appears clear, though a few bystanders can be spotted in front of the truck and on the sidewalk behind it.
- The officers present, Guasco said, were already nearby because they were arresting someone in an unrelated incident.
- In total, according to the NOPD, three officers opened fire. They included Daggs, Beyer and Jordan. Daggs is a 21-year NOPD veteran, and Beyer and Jordan are both just shy of their 2-year anniversary with the department.
- Jordan and NOPD officer Joseph Rodrigue, who did not use his gun, were both shot in the thigh, and Rodrigue also broke his shoulder during the attack. Rodrigue has been with the department for more than nine years.
- NOPD Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said she was aware only through media reports of at least one bystander who'd been injured by gunfire shrapnel.
Inside the room: Department policy requires the release of body camera footage in most instances, and local media were invited to view the video on Friday with members of the NOPD Public Integrity Bureau's Force Investigation Team there to answer questions.
- "Officers are trained to shoot for scenarios like that," Kirkpatrick said after the video showing. "These are split-second decisions … It's clear that these officers were well within policy, so we have zero concerns about that, but all officers are faced with 'shoot, don't shoot' and this was clearly within the law and clearly, solidly within the policy."
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