Months before the man behind the New Orleans terrorist attacks drove his truck into crowds on New Year’s Day on Bourbon Street, he rode his bicycle through the city’s French Quarter and used glasses with built-in cameras to target his targets in October. I recorded a video about it. Investigators said Sunday. He returned a few weeks later, perhaps to continue his plot, they said.
The details emerged as investigators uncovered more about the driver and the broader plan behind the attack that left 14 people dead, many injured and sent New Orleans through a series of anguish and alarms starting in 2025.
Investigators have been trying to piece together a clear timeline of the attacker’s actions. The investigation included a beat-by-beat account of their movements in the hours leading up to the attack, including loading guns in a rented pickup truck and planting an explosive device in a cooler near the attack site.
A much broader search will look back through the years to understand how a 42-year-old Army veteran with a lucrative job at an international accounting firm became radicalized with alleged links to the Islamic State terrorist group, better known as ISIS. .
Investigators discovered that the attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, traveled to Egypt and Canada in 2023. But they said Sunday they had not yet determined what role those trips played in his evolving beliefs or plans. For the New Orleans Offensive
“Our agents have a lot of information about where he went, who he met and how those trips may or may not be connected to his actions here in our city,” said Lionel Myrtil, special agent in charge of the FBI in New Orleans. “We are getting answers,” he said. At a press conference.
New Orleans has been in mourning since the attacks, but has moved forward, reopening Bourbon Street to the public and preparing for the season of celebrations ahead of next month’s Super Bowl and Mardi Gras. Crowds gathered on Bourbon Street Saturday evening for a vigil that included a traditional second line. President Biden is scheduled to visit New Orleans on Monday.
“I believe that only the power of prayer and faith in God can get them and us through this time,” Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said Sunday, citing the pain experienced by the families of the victims and the entire community. I was sailing.
The attack ended with Mr Jabbar being killed in a shootout with police.
Mr Jabbar declared his allegiance to ISIS after a change that puzzled and unnerved those who knew him. He had the group’s flag on the rented Ford F-150 pickup truck he used in the attack. “I just wanted to let you know that I joined ISIS earlier this year,” he said in a video recorded for his family.
Officials said on Sunday they continued to believe Mr. Java carried out the attack alone and were continuing to investigate whether he had deeper ties to ISIS. It was unclear why he targeted New Orleans, officials said.
FBI counterterrorism officer Christopher Raia said individuals like Mr. Jabbar, who are typically radicalized online, use easily accessible weapons and act alone or in small groups, are perhaps the “biggest terrorist threat” facing the country. He said it would be.
“They are difficult to identify, investigate and disrupt,” he said at a press conference on Sunday.
Investigators also tried to find out where Mr. Jabbar went and what he did when he visited New Orleans in November. This was the second visit before the attack that officials are aware of.
Officials praised New Orleans police for their quick response that saved the city from more carnage. Two police officers were wounded in the shootout with Mr. Jabbar.
Investigators discovered he left two improvised explosive devices in a cooler at a nearby location just before plowing his truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street early New Year’s morning. They believed that he appeared to have limited experience in making and using explosives and that although the devices he created were crude, some of them could be effective.
Mr. Jabbar had a transmitter in his rented pickup truck. “We believe the transmitter may have worked,” Myrthil said.
One of the coolers was moved from where Mr. Jabbar placed it, but the people who moved it were “ignorant Bourbon Street visitors” with no connection to Mr. Jabbar, officials said.
Both devices were disabled by authorities shortly after the crash attack.
Investigators said Mr. Jabbar rented a pickup truck a few weeks before the attack and drove it from his home in Texas to New Orleans on the afternoon of Dec. 31. Investigators found bomb-making materials at a residence he rented in New Orleans. , where he set fire just before departing for the French Quarter. Officials said the fire was fully extinguished within a few hours and was already extinguished by the time firefighters arrived at the home.
