Mill Valley family avoids New Orleans tragedy by hours

SAN FRANCISCO - Among the many people celebrating New Year's in New Orleans, was a Mill Valley family of four who had been having a great time spending time together and taking pictures in the famed French Quarter before a driver rammed his car into revelers, killing 15 and injuring 30. 

Stephen Golblatt spent New Year's Eve on Bourbon Street, only to learn hours later how close he and his family were to the tragedy. 

"We woke up this morning at 9 o'clock and my phone was lit up with a lot of text messages and voicemails," Goldblatt said in an interview from New Orleans on Wednesday. "People just checking in to make sure that we were okay."

Goldblatt said he and his family came to New Orleans to get away from the Bay Area, eat some great food and hear some great music. They also had tickets to the Sugar Bowl, which got postponed until Thursday because of the "act of terrorism" that the FBI is now investigating. 

The driver, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, was also killed in a police shootout, and law enforcement found a potential IED and an ISIS flag in his truck. 

Goldblatt said he left Bourbon Street about 11:30 p.m. and his 19-year-old son, Asher, stayed to take photographs until 1 a.m. They all went to bed and had no idea that the attack had occurred at about 3:30 a.m. until they woke up on New Year's Day.

Despite the horror of what happened, Goldblatt said that the mood in New Orleans was "cautiously optimistic that this is going to be an isolated incident."

But, he added: "I also know there's a lot of nervous energy in the air, because there's a number of events and the Super Bowl around the corner and there's just a lot of nervous people."

But New Orleans will rally, Goldblatt surmised.

"It's been through a lot," Goldblatt said. "But this is a city to have a good time and enjoy things. It's a party." 

Back in San Francisco, Union Square was full of people thinking about the victims of the French Quarter attack. 

"My prayers go out to them. My heart goes out to them just like it was our own family," said Shannon Fields Waites, who was visiting the area. "You feel the same sympathy, the same empathy for those people." 

"We were just reading about it. I don't see how you can stop something like that, but you just got to love on each other," visitor Chris Cooper said. 

Many were gathered in Union Square on the final night of the Hanukkah menorah lighting, where security was top of mind. 

"We've been here eight nights, every night celebrating and there haven't been any incidents. They feel secure and thanks to the SF police department," said Rabbi Shmulik Friedman Chabad of San Francisco.

Former FBI agent and security expert Rick Smith told KTVU that every event of this magnitude is mourned, but also taken as an object lesson to inform how best to address threats to so-called soft targets in the future.

 "You can put barriers up to make it more difficult," Smith said. "But that's the challenge for everybody. It's a challenge worldwide; not just the United States."

Smith said with a number of high-profile events coming to San Francisco and the Bay Area, there will likely be a lot of work on coordinating various agencies from the local, state and federal levels, and ensuring that communication between those agencies is as efficient as possible. 

He said San Francisco has strengths and shortcomings when it comes to security.

 "One thing about the city that is good in a way is that there are a lot of events here," Smith said. "A lot of training. Police are accustomed to big events and they have the right training and experience. But, as I mentioned, there's no Joint Terrorism Taskforce here, and that needs to be changed, improved and implemented."

Featured

article

New Orleans live updates: Driver plows into Bourbon Street crowd, killing 15

At least 15 people were killed and over 30 hurt after a pickup truck plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street. Two officers were shot in the incident, and the suspect is dead. Here's what we know.