Months before the ringleader of the New Orleans terrorist attack drove his truck into a New Year's Day crowd, he rode his bike around the area and recorded video of his targets using glasses with built-in cameras, investigators said Sunday. revealed. They said he returned a few weeks later, perhaps to continue the plot.
Investigators reveal more about the driver and the broader plan behind the attack that killed 14 people, injured many more, and left New Orleans grappling with a series of pain and uncertainty starting in 2025. As time progressed, these details became clearer.
Investigators are working to piece together a clear timeline of the attacker's actions. Investigators are seeking to document his actions in the hours leading up to the attack, including loading a gun into a rented pickup truck and placing explosives in a cooler near the scene of the attack on Bourbon Street in the city. are. french quarter.
How a 42-year-old Army veteran who took a high-paying job at an international accounting firm became radicalized and started claiming affiliation with the Islamic State terrorist group known as ISIS. A more extensive study goes back many years to try to understand why.
Investigators determined that the attacker, Shamsuddin Jabar, had traveled to Egypt and Canada in 2023. But investigators said Sunday they had not yet determined what role, if any, those trips played in his evolving beliefs and plans. In the case of the New Orleans attack.
Lionel Marcil, special agent in charge of the FBI in New Orleans, said, “Investigators are trying to figure out where he went, who he met with, and how that travel influenced his actions here in our city.'' “We now have answers as to whether or not they will connect in the same way.” At a press conference.
New Orleans has been grieving since the attack, but has reopened Bourbon Street to the public and is preparing for a celebratory season ahead of next month's Super Bowl and Mardi Gras. A crowd gathered on Bourbon Street Saturday night for a wake that included the traditional second line. President Biden is scheduled to visit New Orleans on Monday.
“We believe that only the power of prayer and faith in God will get them and us through this time,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) said Sunday in a statement to the victims' families and the entire community. Referring to his pain, he said: I was navigating.
The attack ended with a gunfight with police that left Jabbar dead and two officers injured. Officials praised the quick response of police and credited them with averting further carnage in the city.
Mr. Jabbar declared his allegiance to ISIS after undergoing a transformation that baffled and troubled those who knew him. He had the group's flag flying on the rented Ford F-150 pickup truck he used in the attack. “I wanted you to know that I joined ISIS earlier this year,” he said in a video he recorded for his family.
Officials said Sunday they continue to believe Mr. Jabbar carried out the attack alone and are still investigating whether he had deep ties to ISIS. Officials say it remains unclear why he chose New Orleans as a target.
Christopher Reia, an FBI counterterrorism official, said individuals like Mr. Jabbar typically become radicalized online, use readily available weapons, and act alone or in small groups; He said it was the “greatest terrorist threat” facing the United States.
“They are difficult to identify, investigate and disrupt,” he said at a news conference Sunday.
Investigators were also trying to determine where Mr. Jabbar went during a November trip to New Orleans, and what he did during his second known trip to New Orleans before the attack. . The first visit, where he recorded video images from his bike, took place in October.
Investigators discovered that shortly before he drove his truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street early on New Year's Day, he left two improvised explosive devices in a cooler at a nearby location. They said the suspect appeared to have had limited experience making and using explosives, and the devices he created were crude, but they believed some of them may have been effective. said.
Mr. Jabbar had the transmitter in his rented pickup truck. “We believe the transmitter would have worked,” Mirchil said.
Officials said one of the coolers had been removed from its location by Jabbar, but was moved by “an unsuspecting Bourbon Street visitor” who had no connection to Jabbar. It is said that it was.
Both devices were disabled by authorities shortly after the ramming attack.
Investigators said Jabbar rented a pickup truck several weeks before the attack, drove it from his home in Texas to New Orleans, and arrived on the afternoon of Dec. 31. Investigators found bomb-making materials in Jabbar's rented New Orleans home. , he set himself on fire there just before leaving for the French Quarter. Officials said the fire self-extinguished within a few hours and was already under control by the time firefighters arrived at the home.
