New Orleans gunman had ‘remote detonator’ for explosives in French Quarter, Biden says
New Orleans forward Shamsud-Din Jabbar acted alone and planted “remote detonator” explosives in refrigerators at two nearby locations in the French Quarter, just hours before the pickup truck plowed into crowds celebrating New Year’s Eve on Bourbon Street, he said. President Biden at a press conference on Thursday.
“We have no information that anyone else participated in the attack,” Biden said during a press conference on his administration’s 235 judicial confirmations. “They determined that the attacker was the same person who planted explosives in those ice coolers at two nearby locations in the French Quarter, just hours before he drove his vehicle into the crowd. They estimated that he had a remote detonator in his vehicle to ignite those two icicles.”
NEW ORLEANS ATTACK: INSIDE THE BOURBON STREET HOME OF THE HOUSTON TERRORIST
President Biden says the New Orleans gunman acted alone and had a remote explosive detonator. (Associated Press)
Biden said federal agents were investigating potential links to the Las Vegas blast, which is also being investigated as a terrorist attack, and urged them to “expedite” their efforts. 14 people were killed and Jabbar died in a shootout with the police.
“As of right now, they’re just being notified,” Biden said. “So far they have found no evidence of such a connection. I told them to keep looking.”
The FBI has identified Jabbar as the driver who crashed his rented truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The office told lawmakers Thursday that it had no information about Jabbar before his attack. They also said that although Jabbar said he was “inspired” by ISIS, investigators found no evidence that he was directed by ISIS.
INVESTIGATORS USE TATTOO, PHOTOS TO IDENTIFY SUSPECT BEHIND TRUMP HOTEL CYBERTRUCK EXPLOSION
Authorities are patrolling Bourbon Street, which reopened Thursday in New Orleans after a man drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Wednesday. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
Hospitals in New Orleans treated a total of 37 victims injured in Wednesday’s attack. LCMC Health did not say how many of the injured have since been discharged, nor did it clarify the condition of those still hospitalized.
Authorities were investigating a potential military connection between Jabbar and the Las Vegas suspect, identified by police to The Associated Press as Matthew Livelsberger.
“As you know, there is also FBI investigation in Las Vegas. We are following all potential leads and are not ruling anything out,” Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, told reporters Thursday. “However, at this time there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Jabbar, a native American born in Texas, previously served in the US Army. Authorities are still investigating how and when he became radicalized.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
