The New Orleans attacker acted alone, supporting the Islamic State, the FBI tells Reuters

Brian Thevenot and Ned Randolph

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – The U.S. Army veteran who drove his truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers pledged allegiance to Islamic State but acted alone in the attack that killed at least 14 people, the FBI said on Thursday.

The suspect, who the FBI said was killed at the scene after firing on police, has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texan who once served in Afghanistan. He drove from Houston to New Orleans on Dec. 31 and posted five videos on Facebook (NASDAQ: ) between 1:29 a.m. and 3:02 a.m. the morning of the attack in which he said he supported IS, an Islamic militant group with fighters in Iraq and Syria, he said is the FBI.

In the first video, Jabbar said he had previously planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned that media coverage was not focusing on “a war between believers and unbelievers,” FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said at a news conference.

Jabbar also said in the videos that he joined IS before last summer and gave his last will and testament, Raia said.

“This was an act of terrorism,” Raia said. “It was a premeditated and evil act.” The FBI was still investigating Jabbar’s “path to radicalization,” but evidence reviewed so far showed he was clearly inspired by IS, Raia said.

Surveillance video showed Jabbar placing two improvised explosive devices in refrigerators at intersections around Bourbon Street, a popular tourist destination in New Orleans where the attack took place, hours before the attack, Raia said. Both were treated at the scene.

Other people were seen on the video looking at the refrigerators, who investigators now believe were just curious bystanders and not accomplices.

New Orleans officials said the college football Sugar Bowl, which had been scheduled for Wednesday in a New Year’s tradition, will be held Thursday afternoon. The city will also host the National Football League’s Super Bowl next month.

The FBI said there appeared to be no connection between the New Orleans attack and an incident in Las Vegas on the same day in which a Tesla (NASDAQ: ) Cybertruck full of gas canisters and large fireworks burst into flames outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, just a few weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House on January 20.

Among the injured victims of the attack in New Orleans were two police officers who were shot by a suspect, which happened just three hours after the start of the new year in the historic French Quarter. At least 14 people and the suspect were killed, the FBI said.

The victims included a mother of a four-year-old who had just moved into a new apartment after receiving a promotion at work, a financial employee from New York and a successful student athlete visiting home for the holidays, and an 18-year-old year-old aspiring nurse from Mississippi.

Witnesses described a terrible scene.

“There were people everywhere,” Kimberly Strickland of Mobile, Alabama, said in an interview. “You just heard this whine and the engine revving and this huge loud bang and then people screaming and debris – just metal – the sound of metal and bodies screeching.”

Authorities in other US cities said they had stepped up security, including at Trump Tower and New York’s Times Square, adding that there were no immediate threats.

Police in Washington also said they have increased their presence as the capital prepares to host three major events this month: the confirmation of Trump’s presidential victory in Congress on January 6, the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter on January 9 and Trump’s January 20 inauguration.

THE FLAG OF THE ISLAMIC STATE

The FBI said an IS flag was found on the trailer hitch of the rental truck used in the New Orleans attack.

US President Joe Biden condemned what he called the “despicable” act.

Federal authorities are also investigating a fire that broke out early Wednesday at an Airbnb rental in the St. Roch in New Orleans. Jabbar is believed to have been staying at that address, and investigators were examining two laptops linked to Jabbar that were found there, Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives special agent Joshua Jackson told reporters. They were also examining three cell phones linked to Jabbar.

Jackson said it appears the fire started after Jabbar was killed.

“There are many different ways this can happen,” he said. “You could have different timing devices. You could have a long cable that extended that time. You could also have pressure cookers that were placed on a stove filled with gasoline and then went off.”

Public records show Jabbar worked in real estate in Houston. In a promotional video released four years ago, Jabbar described himself as born and raised in Beaumont, a city about 80 miles (130 km) east of Houston.

Jabbar was in the regular army from March 2007 to January 2015 and then in the army reserve from January 2015 to July 2020, an army spokesman said. He was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010 and held the rank of Staff Sergeant at the end of his service.

IS is a Muslim militant group that once imposed a reign of violence on millions of people in Iraq and Syria until it collapsed following a protracted military campaign by the US-led coalition.

Although weakened on the ground, IS has continued to recruit supporters online, experts say.