The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has released further information about the deadly New Year’s Eve car crash incident in New Orleans, providing a brief timeline of how the suspect executed his attack.
At a news conference Thursday, Christopher Raia, a deputy assistant director from the FBI’s counterterrorism division, also clarified that only one suspect is currently involved in the attack: 42-year-old Texas resident Shamsud-Dim Jabbar.
“We do not assess at this point that anyone other than Shamsud-Dim Jabbar is involved in this attack,” Raia said.
Although he stressed that the investigation was still in its early stages, he added, “We are confident at this point that there are no accomplices.”
The news conference came a little more than a day after Jabbar allegedly drove a rented Ford F-150 pickup truck into holiday crowds celebrating on Bourbon Street, a hub for tourism and nightlife in New Orleans.
Fourteen people were killed as the truck bypassed a traffic barricade on Canal Street and traveled nearly two and a half blocks up the busy pedestrian thoroughfare.
The truck crashed near the intersection with Conti Street, and Jabbar allegedly exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officers as he attempted to flee.
He was ultimately killed in the exchange. At least 35 people were injured, including two police officers.
Media reports indicated that among the dead are a father of two from the city of Baton Rouge, a single mother from the city of Metairie, Louisiana, and a football player who attended Princeton University.
A revised timeline
Raia explained that authorities now have a better idea of how Jabbar came to be on Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day, when the attack occurred.
“Investigators believe Jabbar rented the F-150 in Houston, Texas, on December 30,” Raia said. “He then traveled from Houston to New Orleans on the evening of the 31st.”
In the final hours before the attack, Jabbar posted a series of five videos on his Facebook account, “announcing his support” for the armed group ISIL (ISIS), according to Raia.
The first video was released at 1:29 am local time (07:29 GMT). The latest came at 3:02 a.m. (09:02 GMT). By around 3:15 a.m. (09:15 GMT), the deadly attack was underway.
That footage showed Raia and his colleagues that Jabbar “was 100 percent inspired by ISIS.”
“In the first video, Jabbar explains that he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was worried that the headlines wouldn’t focus on the fight, quote, between believers and non-believers,” Raia said.
“In addition, he stated that he had joined ISIS before this summer. He also provided a will and testament.”
The investigation is ongoing
Authorities stressed, however, that their investigation into the attack was ongoing.
The test technicians continue to comb the rental truck for tests. Also wanted are three phones linked to Jabbar, as well as two laptops.
Raia added that FBI agents received more than 400 tips from the public since the attack. He appealed for additional information, especially about the suspect.
“If you know Jabbar personally, worked with him, served in the military or saw him in New Orleans or Texas, we need to talk to you,” Raia said.
Authorities have revealed that Jabbar was a US-born citizen and military veteran who served in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010.
After leaving the military in 2020, he worked at the consulting firm Deloitte and appears to have done some work in real estate.
An ISIL flag was eventually recovered from the back of Jabbar’s rented truck on Wednesday.
Bomb technicians also found two improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, placed in coolers near the crash site: one at the intersection of Bourbon and Orleans streets and another two blocks away.
“Let me be very clear on this point: This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and a bad act,” said Raia.
Raia added that reports of other explosives found at the scene either turned out to be misinformation or “malfunctioning devices”.
No associates
At Thursday’s briefing, Raia also retracted an earlier FBI statement suggesting Jabbar did not act alone.
A day earlier, Alethea Duncan, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans office, told reporters: “We don’t believe Jabbar was solely responsible.”
But Raia sought to allay concerns that Jabbar may have had accomplices who have yet to be arrested.
“We’ve had 24 hours now to go through the media, go through the phones, interview people, analyze those videos, analyze other databases,” Raia said.
“There were hundreds and hundreds of directions made in just 24 hours. We are confident at this point that there is no accomplice.”
He explained that much of the concern stemmed from witnesses who spotted bystanders approaching coolers where IEDs were later discovered.
“Many of the early reports indicated that there were additional people lowering the coolers,” he said.
“It turns out they are just customers on the street who were looking inside the coolers. We didn’t know that at first.”
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry urged the public to be patient with the investigative process.
“No one makes a puzzle with thousands of pieces and puts it together in five seconds,” he told reporters.
Bourbon Street ‘restored’
State and local officials at Thursday’s news conference also sought to restore public confidence after the deadly attack, which raised questions about security precautions in New Orleans, a popular tourist destination.
New Orleans had been in the process of replacing its bollards — bollards used to block traffic at pedestrian hotspots — but city officials have noted that other barriers had been installed where the bollards had been removed.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell also revealed that law enforcement officers have cleared the Bourbon Street crime scene and turned the area over to city authorities.
That allowed street sweepers to work nearly six hours into the night to prepare the sidewalk for visitors, including those attending Thursday’s Sugar Bowl, a college football championship game.
The game was postponed for a day after the drive-by attack while his stadium, the Caesars Superdome, underwent an extensive security sweep.
“Safety continues to be our top priority,” Cantrell said, noting that law enforcement has been deployed throughout the city.
“Because of this, there is confidence to reopen Bourbon Street to the public before game time today.”
Governor Landry added that there was an “unprecedented amount of law enforcement resources” in the city. He has previously stated that he plans to attend the Sugar Bowl.
Tourism is a mainstay of New Orleans’ economy, and about 43 million visitors pass through Louisiana each year.
In 2023 alone, tourists spent a total of $18.1 billion and generated $1.9 billion in state and local taxes.
This year, the city is slated to host not only its traditional Mardi Gras parades — a high point on the tourism calendar — but also the Super Bowl, the nation’s most watched sporting event.
Cantrell hinted at those future events in her comments Thursday.
“I want to assure the public that the city of New Orleans is not just ready for game day today,” she said. “We are ready to continue hosting large-scale events in our city because we are built to host.”
