Two Fort Myers teens injured in the New Orleans attack on New Year's are part of a lawsuit filed for the "predictable and entirely preventable" deadly mass tragedy.
Related video above: Teens injured in attack reunite
According to Chicago-based law firm Romanucci Blandin Law , Elle Eisele and Steele Idelson are plaintiffs in the case.
Maples & Connick and national mass disaster law firm Romanucci & Blandin detail what they call systemic failures of those entrusted with public safety .
The announcement came on Thursday, after Romanucci & Blandin, along with Maples & Connick, said they filed in the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana, against the city of New Orleans, New Orleans Police Department, French Quarter Management District, Mott MacDonald, LLC, Hard Rock Construction, LLC and another defendant for their respective roles in the "preventable" mass tragedy that occurred.
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Romanucci & Blandin said the lawsuit, filed on Jan. 29, "seeks justice for the victims and their families, holding those responsible accountable for their failure to protect the community despite clear warning signs and predictable risks."
On New Year's Day, around 3 a.m., Shamsud-Din Jabbar approached the intersection of Canal Street and Bourbon Street in a Ford truck that was rented through the car-sharing service, Turo.
Jabbar passed the far end of the intersection, which was guarded at the time by a single New Orleans Police Department cruiser, where he turned right, jumped the curb and sped down Bourbon Street, striking, killing and injuring multiple people. Police shot and killed Jabbar after he drew a weapon.
New details surrounding Eisele's and Steele's evening on Bourbon Street emerged following the filing of the lawsuit.
Video below: Friends of teens hurt in terror attack speak with NBC2
The Eisele family traveled to New Orleans from Fort Myers to cheer on their Georgia Bulldogs, which is Elle's place of study. Idelson, a student at San Diego State University, joined them for the trip.
Steele and Idelson went to Bourbon Street for New Year's celebrations and to have fun before the Sugar Bowl the next day.
Elle and Steele met with a group of people their age and walked down Bourbon Street around 3:12 a.m.
According to the law firm, the last thing Steele remembers is hearing the noise of the truck, and then she and Elle turned around to look.
The girls were hit directly by the truck and violently thrown in the street, both receiving multiple traumatic and life-threatening injuries.
Fort Myers woman speaks out after being injured in New Orleans terror attack
The release said both boys they were with were killed.
In the days following the attack, Steele met the police officer who carried her to an ambulance.
The release said the officer told Steele that of all the people he tried to save that night, she was the only survivor.
Neither Elle nor Steele can return to school this semester and are homebound while they recover.
The lawsuit labels the attack as a "preventable tragedy."
"For nearly a decade, New Orleans’ elected officials and public safety employees, along with their hired consultants and contractors were aware of the risk to the French Quarter, and specifically Bourbon Street, of a coordinated attack involving the use of a motor vehicle to strike and attack pedestrians," the lawsuit claims.
Attorneys compared the incident to the deadly attack in Nice, France, on Bastille Day in July 2016 when a driver drove a box truck on the Promenade des Anglais, killing 86 and injuring 434 others.
"Major city centers all around the world, including New Orleans, were placed on alert for copycat attacks. To prepare against this type of attack, New Orleans utilized $40 million in taxpayer money to purchase and install the equipment needed to keep its residents and visitors safe," the lawsuit reads.
Attorneys claim despite the years of preparation and warnings of motor-vehicle-based attacks, New Orleans officials and their hired consultants "recklessly and willfully put the New Year’s celebrants at risk by focusing reconstruction of safety systems to be ready for the Super Bowl at the expense of New Year’s Eve and the Sugar Bowl."
Romanucci & Blandin, along with Maples & Connick, filed the following counts in the civil complaint against each defendant:
- City of New Orleans - Negligence
- French Quarter Management District - Negligence
- New Orleans Police Department - Negligence
- Mott McDonald (Engineering/Design Firm) - Negligence
- Hard Rock Construction, Inc. (General Contractor for Project) - Negligence
The lawsuit claims the following:
Other plaintiffs in the case include:
- Antoinette Klima, as a parent and natural guardian of L.H., a minor
- Daniel Ortega
- Jacob Wilson
- Leo Spadoni
- Jessica Wilson
- Nickia Brock
- Jomarcko White
- Cody Lanansa
- Daniel Behnke
- Laci Brabham
- Thomas Trussell
- John Reiss
- Keith Eldridge
- Nina McCracken
- Harodasha Marrero
- Lauren Norman
- Carla White Hall
- Brittany Ward
- Adele Strong
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