Suspect in New Orleans truck attack acted alone, FBI now says: NPR

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the driver of the pickup truck that plowed into a crowd in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens, acted alone and there is no other threat around the Bourbon Street area, the FBI said Thursday .

“We do not believe at this time that anyone else is involved in this attack,” Christopher Raia, the FBI’s deputy director of the agency’s counterterrorism division, told reporters during a news conference.

Raia said investigators are searching five electronic devices — three cell phones and two laptops — and there is “nothing to indicate through call records, through anything on those devices, through interviews, through anything in our systems, that he was aided in this attack by someone.”

This is a change from the FBI’s initial assessment Wednesday that it was likely that Jabbar did not act alone, and the agency was looking for information that could lead to additional suspects who may have aided in the attack.

“Right now we have a much better picture and much more confidence in what we were dealing with than we had just 24 hours ago,” Raia said Thursday.

Jabbar, a 42-year-old military veteran from Houston, was killed in a shootout with police after the attack, which is being investigated as “an act of terrorism,” agency officials said. A black flag with ties to ISIS was attached to the back of the pickup truck, and while an exact motive is unclear, Raia said Jabbar was “100% inspired” by the terrorist group.

The driver rented a white F-150 Monday in Houston before heading to New Orleans Tuesday, according to Raia. Jabbar posted “several videos” on social media in which he declared his support for ISIS and explained that although he planned to hurt his family and friends, he was concerned that the news headlines would not focus on “the war between the believers and the unbelievers ,” Raia said. Jabbar also said he joined ISIS before the summer of 2024.

Police have said that around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday, Jabbar swerved around a police vehicle blocking the intersection of Canal and Bourbon streets and sped onto the sidewalk before reversing onto Bourbon. He continued nearly three blocks down Bourbon Street, crossed Iberville Street and Bienville Street, then crashed just before Conti Street. Jabbar then exited the pickup and fired at police officers, wounding two. The injured officers are in stable condition, police said in a news briefing Wednesday morning.

Surveillance footage also shows that Jabbar placed two IED devices in coolers around the area prior to the attack, according to Raia.

Bourbon Street, which has been closed as authorities investigate, was cleared overnight and reopened to pedestrians Thursday. Fourteen yellow roses have been placed on the sidewalk near Canal Street as a makeshift memorial to each of those killed in traffic.

The Sugar Bowl, a nationally televised game that is part of the college football playoffs, was scheduled to take place in New Orleans on Wednesday night, but was postponed until Thursday afternoon.

“With law enforcement assets that would typically be allocated to an event of this size currently engaged in active investigations related to the incident, the postponement will allow for additional security resources to be put in place to maintain the typical standards of a major event in Caesars Superdome,” the Sugar Bowl said in a statement Wednesday evening.

When asked about security measures in the city ahead of the game, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry told reporters that officials were “reinforcing the area” and “deploying some additional types of assets.”

“I don’t like to give details because I don’t like to tell the enemy what we have,” he said. “But I can tell you we’re in better shape than we were before,” Landry said. He also said there is “an unprecedented amount of law enforcement resources being used” to complete the investigation.

Raia said there is currently “no definitive link” between the attack in New Orleans and a Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas in front of the Trump Hotel on Wednesday, in which the suspect was killed inside the vehicle.

Details about Jabbar and his past emerge

Jabbar, who was a U.S. citizen, was honorably discharged from the Army, according to the FBI. He also served as a Human Resource Specialist and Information Technology Specialist from March 2007 to January 2015 and then in the Army Reserve as an IT Specialist until July 2020, an Army spokesman confirmed to NPR. In February 2009, Jabbar deployed to Afghanistan, where he served for about 11 months. He left the service with the rank of Staff Sergeant.

The FBI completed the search of Jabbar’s Houston home Thursday morning and intervened a post on social media that there is “no threat to the residents” in the area. Texas Newsroom reported that a neighbor, who did not know Jabbar by name, described the suspect as quiet and their interactions as normal.