Just days after a suspect caused terror in New Orleans with a truck attack and placing bombs along the street, a man has been arrested for making a bomb threat in the same neighborhood.
On Saturday, employees at a store on Royal Street near Canal Street in the French Quarter - about a block from the New Year’s Day terror scene - saw a man stealing items, according to police and reported by NOLA.com.
As employees approached the suspect, identified as Mark Ball, 62, he told them he had a bomb in his back, according to police.
The store was evacuated and police did a search. No explosive devices were found.
Ball was arrested and booked into jail on charges of theft and communicating false arson information, according to the report.
The arrest comes as New Orleans and the French Quarter are on high alert after Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, killed 14 along Bourbon Street by mowing them down with a rented truck. Jabbar had pledged support to ISIS and drove with an ISIS flag attached to the back of his truck. Another 35 people were injured in the rampage.
Police also said Jabbar had planted explosive devices near the French Quarter that he planned to explode using a detonator. However, he did not trigger the devices and police safely disarmed them after the attack.
City officials in New Orleans are now facing criticism about their safety plan for the popular hot spot on New Year’s Eve. The city had removed barriers that prevent cars on Bourbon Street and was in the process of replacing them ahead of next month’s Super Bowl.
While police and planners have faced criticism, they have said that Jabbar was “hell-bent” on causing destruction in the Louisiana city.
