A US army veteran motivated by loyalty to the jihadist group Islamic State likely acted alone when he killed and injured dozens in a truck attack against a New Orleans crowd of New Year revellers, the FBI said on Thursday.
Despite initial concerns that Shamsud-Din Jabbar had accomplices still on the run, preliminary investigations show he likely was alone, FBI deputy assistant director Christopher Raia said.
“We do not assess at this point that anyone else was involved,” Raia said.
However, new evidence emerged detailing the extent of the US citizen’s loyalty to Islamic State and his plans to cause mayhem in the attack, which killed 14 and injured more than 30 in the French Quarter district, ending only after he was shot by police.
“He was 100% inspired by Isis,” Raia said, using an alternative name for the international jihadist group.
Just before the attack, in which 42-year-old Jabbar slammed a rented Ford F-150 pickup into the crowd, he “posted several videos to an online platform proclaiming his support for Isis”, Raia said.
He also carried a black Isis flag on the back of the vehicle.
In one video, Jabbar “explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers’”.
Raia said Jabbar had planted two homemade bombs in drinks coolers in French Quarter streets. The bombs were viable but were made safe in time, he said.
Raia clarified that the total death toll of 15 from Wednesday’s carnage included 14 victims and Jabbar himself, who died after wounding two police officers in an exchange of gunfire.
The New Orleans attack coincided with a high-profile incident in Las Vegas a few hours later where a Tesla Cybertruck blew up outside a hotel owned by US President-elect Donald Trump.
One person was killed and seven were injured in the incident. It remains unclear whether it was accidental or deliberate.
US media quoted law enforcement sources as saying the person who rented the Telsa truck was a current US Army special forces member.
#BREAKING: A Tesla Cybertruck has exploded at Trump Tower Hotel in Las Vegas. It also managed to set off the building's fire alarm system. pic.twitter.com/sHXQbVnRCZ
— Hunter Cullen (@IndictmentTime) January 1, 2025
In another echo of the New Orleans incident, the vehicles in both cases had been rented through the car-sharing app Turo.
Raia said: “At this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas.”
In New Orleans' French Quarter, cleaners continued to clear the debris. Bourbon St, at the heart of the area’s famous nightlife and jazz establishments, remained closed to the public.
After a 24-hour delay due to the violence, the city was gearing up to stage the major Sugar Bowl college football game in the Superdome later on Thursday. The stadium will also host the NFL’s Super Bowl championship game in February.
“We believe we can absolutely provide a safe and wonderful environment today, and hold the Super Bowl and all of our activities,” New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said.
The terrifying incident came three weeks before Trump takes over as president.
The Republican has used the mayhem to push his anti-immigrant agenda, despite the slain killer being a US-born citizen.
Overnight, Trump again took to social media to link the attack to “OPEN BORDERS”.
In a lengthy rant, he berated law enforcement bodies for “attacking their political opponent, ME, rather than focusing on protecting Americans from the outside and inside violent SCUM”.
Claiming “the USA is breaking down”, Trump said, without giving details: “the CIA must get involved”.
Police say Jabbar drove at high speed into the crowd, intent on causing maximum casualties.
“There were bodies and blood and all the trash,” bystander Zion Parsons told CNN. “People were terrified, running, screaming.”
“It was just scary, I cried my eyes out, honestly,” tourist Ethan Ayersman, 20, told AFP.
The Pentagon said Jabbar served in the Army as a human resources specialist and an IT specialist from 2007 to 2015, and then in the army reserve until 2020.
He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 until January 2010, an army spokesperson said.
Raia said the growing focus now is on how Jabbar became radicalised.
“That’s the stuff in the coming days, as far as that path to radicalisation, that we’re really going to be digging into and making a priority of,” he said.
- Agence France-Presse