Published at 1:45 PM, January 3, 2025
and last upgraded 12:37 PM, January 3, 2025
BRAND-NEW ORLEANS (AP)– The Army veteran who drove a pickup into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans acted alone, the FBI stated Thursday, reversing its position from a day previously that he likely dealt with others in the lethal attack that authorities stated was motivated by the Islamic State group.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched this image of Shamsud-Din Jabbar on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2024.( Federal Bureau of Investigation through AP)
The FBI likewise exposed that the chauffeur, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an American resident from Texas, published 5 videos on his Facebook account in the hours before the attack in which he declared his assistance for the militant group and previewed the violence that he would quickly release in the famous French Quarter district.
“This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and a wicked act, “stated Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism department, calling Jabbar “100% influenced” by the Islamic State.
The attack along Bourbon Street eliminated 14 revelers, together with Jabbar, 42, who was fatally shot in a firefight with cops after guiding his speeding truck around a barrier and raking into the crowd. About 30 individuals were hurt. It was the most dangerous IS-inspired attack on U.S. soil in years.
Raia worried that there was no indicator of a connection in between the New Orleans attack and the surge Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck filled with dynamites outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel. The individual inside that truck, an embellished U.S. Army Green Beret, shot himself in the head prior to detonation, authorities stated.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched images of security video footage that leadsShamsud-Din Jabbar an hour before he drove a truck down Bourbon Street, New Orleans, early Jan. 1, 2025. (Federal Bureau of Investigation through AP)
The FBI continued to hunt for ideas about Jabbar however stated that a day into its examination, it was positive he was not helped by anybody else in the attack, which eliminated an 18-year-old hopeful nurse, a single mom, a dad of 2 and a previous Princeton University football star, to name a few.
The attack strategies likewise consisted of the positioning of unrefined bombs in the area in an obvious effort to trigger more carnage, authorities stated. 2 improvised explosive gadgets left in coolers a number of blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene. Other gadgets were identified to be non-functional.
Authorities evaluated monitoring video revealing individuals standing near among the coolers however concluded that they were not linked “in any method” with the attack, though detectives still wish to speak to them as witnesses, Raia stated.
Detectives were likewise attempting to comprehend more about Jabbar’s course to radicalization, which they state culminated with him getting a leased truck in Houston on Dec. 30 and driving it to New Orleans the following night.
The FBI recuperated a black Islamic State flag from his leased pickup and evaluated 5 videos published to Facebook, consisting of one in which he stated he initially prepared to hurt his friends and family however “was worried that news headings would not concentrate on the “war in between the followers and the disbelievers,” Raia stated. Jabbar likewise specified that he signed up with IS before last summer season, and he offered a last will and testimony, the FBI stated.
