LAST UPDATE | 2 Jan
THE US ARMY veteran who rammed his rented truck into New Year’s revellers in New Orleans, killing at least 14 people, appears to have acted alone, the FBI has said.
“We do not assess at this point that anyone else was involved in this attack except for Shamsud-Din Jabbar,” FBI deputy assistant director Christopher Raia said at a press conference this afternoon.
The FBI identified the driver as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a US citizen from Texas, and had said it was working to determine any potential associations with terrorist organisations.
Jabbar joined the army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He appeared to have been a real estate agent working in Houston and had served as an IT specialist in the military.
He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.
Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick described Jabbar as a “terrorist,” and the FBI said “an ISIS flag was located in the vehicle,” using another name for the Islamic State jihadist group.
The FBI has also said the attacker had published videos proclaiming support for the Islamic State group.
Jabbar “drove from Houston to New Orleans on the evening of the 31st and he posted several videos to an online platform proclaiming his support for ISIS,” the FBI said.
In one video, Jabbar “explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers.’”
Jabbar also planted two homemade bombs on the streets of the French Quarter, the FBI said.
“We did obtain surveillance footage showing Jabbar placing the devices where they were found,” the bureau said.
The FBI has also said this afternoon that there is no clear link between the New Orleans attack and the explosion of a Tesla truck in Las Vegas, which occurred on the same day.
“At this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas,” FBI deputy assistant director Christopher Raia said at a press conference.
An FBI spokesman told AFP that 15 people had been killed in the attack, citing the New Orleans coroner’s office.
Among the dead, Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18, graduated from high school last year and was to begin a nursing program this month, US media reported.
Her mother Melissa Dedeaux told the news website Nola.com that her daughter had snuck out to New Orleans from Gulfport, Mississippi with her cousin and a friend to celebrate the new year.
Reggie Hunter, a 37-year-old warehouse manager and father of two from Baton Rouge, was also killed in the attack, the New York Times reported, citing a relative.
The newspaper also identified Tiger Bech, a former football player at Princeton University, among those killed.
A photo circulated among law enforcement officials showed a bearded Jabbar wearing camouflage next to the truck after he was killed. An intelligence bulletin obtained by the AP said he was wearing a ballistic vest and helmet.
The flag of the Islamic State group was on the truck’s trailer hitch, the FBI said.
Investigators found guns and what appeared to be an improvised explosive device in the vehicle, along with other devices elsewhere in the city’s famed French Quarter.
Investigators found multiple improvised explosives, including two pipe bombs that were concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.
The bulletin, relying on preliminary information gathered soon after the attack, also cited surveillance footage that it said showed three men and a woman placing one of the devices, but federal officials did not immediately confirm that detail and it was not clear who they were or what connection they had to the attack, if any.
“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” FBI assistant special agent in charge Alethea Duncan said at a news conference.
Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck onto a sidewalk, going around a police car that was positioned to block vehicular traffic, authorities said. A barrier system meant to prevent vehicle attacks was being repaired in preparation for the Super Bowl in February.
Jabbar was killed by police after he exited the truck and opened fire on responding officers, local police said. Three officers returned fire. Two were shot and are in stable condition.
Investigators recovered a handgun and AR-style rifle, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorised to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
US President Joe Biden, speaking from the presidential retreat at Camp David, called the attack a “despicable” and “heinous act”. Addressing the victims and the people of New Orleans, he said: “I want you to know I grieve with you. Our nation grieves with you as you mourn and as you heal.”
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday,” Biden said in an earlier written statement.
“There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”
Tánaiste Micheál Martin paid tribute to the victims on social media, saying that “Ireland stands in solidarity” with the people of the city following the attack.
Shocked and horrified by the suspected terror attack that left ten dead and many more injured in New Orleans.
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) January 1, 2025
Our thoughts and condolences go to all the victims and their families.
Ireland stands in solidarity with the people of New Orleans and the US at this tragic time.
The rampage turned festive Bourbon Street into a macabre mayhem of maimed victims, bloodied bodies and pedestrians fleeing for safety inside nightclubs and restaurants.
In addition to the dead, dozens of people were hurt. A college football playoff game at the nearby Superdome was postponed until Thursday.
Zion Parsons, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi, said he saw the truck “barreling through, throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air”.
“Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering,” said Parsons, whose friend Nikyra Dedeaux was among the people killed.
The attack is the latest example of a vehicle being used as a weapon to carry out mass violence and the deadliest Islamic State-inspired assault on US soil in years.
FBI officials have repeatedly warned about an elevated international terrorism threat due to the Israel-Hamas war.
In the last year, the agency has disrupted other potential attacks, including in October when it arrested an Afghan man in Oklahoma for an alleged Election Day plot targeting large crowds.
With reporting from AFP
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