PBS News Hour

AMNA NAWAZ: The city of New Orleans is inching back to normalcy after the New Year's truck attack that killed 14 people in the famed French Quarter.

Laura Barron-Lopez is back with this report on how the area's residents are coping with the tragedy and what comes next.

JOEY DIFATTA, New Orleans Resident: How could this happen in my neighborhood?

This is where I live.

This is where I work.

Can't happen here.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Joey DiFatta has lived in New Orleans his whole life and in the city's French Quarter for 15 years.

He says the attack on Bourbon Street has left his tight-knit community in shock.

JOEY DIFATTA: A lot of folks don't realize it's not just French Quarter bars and restaurants.

There are residents who live here.

So we're having to cope with this now and to process it.

This is a big situation for us to overcome, but I think we will.

We're going to make it.

We're not leaving.

They're not going to run us off.

We're going to stay.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: DiFatta co-owns a bar in guesthouse just down the block on Bourbon.

JOEY DIFATTA: I'm hoping that this is a catalyst to getting protection, better police protection.

Usually, something like this, you learn from it and then you fix the shortfalls.

And I'm hoping that's what happens with this.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Longtime New Orleans resident Jane Cooper walked home from Bourbon Street with her husband, Bob Heaps, just hours before the attack.

She also wants to see some changes.

JANE COOPER, New Orleans Resident: I think one of the difficult conversations that has to take place in this city is, how do you manage pedestrians and vehicular traffic?

I mean, this is a city that people can walk.

Mardi Gras, there are hundreds of thousands of people here in the streets, and cars are allowed to drive down the streets.

It doesn't make any sense.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Cooper is chair of the French Quarter Management District, created by the state to help the area recover after Hurricane Katrina.

JANE COOPER: You mourn the loss of life, no question about it.

You have to do that.

But terrorists want to instill fear in the people that they target, and that is not what we're going to do here in New Orleans.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Some sense of normalcy has returned to the French Quarter and Bourbon Street, with musicians, bar-goers, and football fans again filling the neighborhood, though with more police and sidewalk protections in place.

Meanwhile, authorities are trying to understand more about the path to radicalization by the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar.

Late on Thursday, the FBI released photos of Jabbar walking through the French Quarter about an hour before the attack and an image of a cooler he placed containing an explosive device.

Today, U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies published a bulletin, saying they're concerned about possible copycat or retaliatory attacks.

It said ISIS had not claimed responsibility for the New Orleans attack, but its supporters celebrated it online; 15 people remained hospitalized at two area medical centers this afternoon, while residents continued lining up to donate blood for the wounded.

Shaquille Lewis, who moved to New Orleans six months ago, was on Bourbon Street just two hours before the attack.

SHAQUILLE LEWIS, New Orleans Resident: It was such a surreal thing to see the celebration, the happiness, the energy that New Orleans is known for at midnight and then wake up the next morning and just see a completely different picture.

But coming out to this blood drive, actually, it kind of feels a little bit more rejuvenated.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Kara Larson is still in shock, but said New Orleans is a city of survivors.

KARA LARSON, New Orleans Resident: This attack has made me feel helpless, and this feels like something that I can actually do.

Like, I can actually give, I can do something.

And in these situations, there's often not much that you can do, and this is something that I can.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: For Dylan Davison, who was born and raised here, it's important to show that his city won't be intimidated by a terrorist.

DYLAN DAVISON, New Orleans Resident: He did it to cause mass chaos and fear, so we need to not give him what he wanted and try to keep our spirits up as best as possible and get the city back to where it needs to be.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: President Biden and the first lady will travel to New Orleans on Monday to visit with grieving families and local officials.

Monday is also Twelfth Night, Amna, which is the beginning of Mardi Gras season here.

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, you're there in the French Quarter, of course.

Tell us more about what city officials, law enforcement are saying about security measures there and more broadly in New Orleans.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: With the official full reopening of the French Quarter here, Amna, local officials are saying that they are increasing security permanently, not just for large events.

And in a statement today, the New Orleans Police Department said: "To protect the integrity of our security efforts, we won't be sharing specific details about operational plans.

Rest assured, we continuously evaluate and adjust these plans to keep the community safe."

And, as we mentioned, Mardi Gras is beginning here soon, Amna.

And, also, the Super Bowl is coming next month.

So, generally, this is a very busy time for the city.

And many of the residents that we spoke to while we have been here have talked about that tourism can be a bit of a blessing, but also a little bit of a curse here, Amna.

And here in the French Quarter, tourists frequently outnumber the residents that live here.

And the residents that we spoke to said that the increasing number of tourists has at times potentially put a target on the city, but they also -- that tourism industry is a key to the vibrancy of this city and to its uniqueness.

And it's also something that the city's economy depends and thrives on.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, Laura, we know the investigation into that attack continues.

What new have we learned about what police and law enforcement are learning?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Amna, the FBI continues to maintain that the suspect acted alone in this terror attack.

But, today, the FBI was back at his Houston house, searching through it, and they said that they found some chemicals that could have been used to make homemade explosives.

We should also note, Amna, that the names of the 14 victims, not all the names of those 14 victims, have fully been released.

But, today, President Biden confirmed that he has spoken to the families of those victims.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that's our Laura Barron-Lopez reporting from New Orleans tonight.

Laura, thank you.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.