The latest:
- Truck driver in New Orleans attack acted alone, says FBI.
- Agency calls it an act of terrorism inspired by the ISIS, an Islamist militant group.
- No “definitive” link between the Bourbon Street attack and a deadly explosion in Las Vegas.
- Authorities assessed no “credible threat” to New Orleans ahead of New Year’s Day attack.
The FBI now says that the pickup truck driver responsible for a deadly rampage on Bourbon Street in New Orleans acted alone.
A man in the rented truck rammed into a New Year’s Day crowd in the city early Wednesday, killing 14 people and injuring dozens of others.
Officials initially said they were seeking additional potential suspects in the attack, which is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
But Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, said on Thursday that the evidence now shows that Shamsud-Din Jabbar was solely responsible for the attack and had professed allegiance to ISIS, an Islamist militant group.
“We’re confident at this point that there’s no accomplices,” Raia told reporters.
FBI official Christopher Raia said Thursday that investigators do not believe at this point that anyone other than the accused was involved in the New Orleans truck attack, which he described as an ‘act of terrorism’ that saw 14 innocent people killed.
Guns and pipe bombs were found in the suspect’s vehicle, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press. The devices were concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation with a remote control that was also found in the vehicle, the bulletin said.
“A lot of the early reports came out that there were extra people setting the coolers down,” Raia said.
He explained that they turned out to be members of the public who simply picked up coolers already placed.
“We didn’t know that at first, so we had to track that down and put that to rest.”
Jabbar was killed after the ramming attack during a firefight with police.
“What I can tell you right now is that he was 100 per cent inspired by ISIS,” Raia said, adding that investigators are digging through more of his social media to “ascertain more about that connection.”
On Wednesday, the FBI said it had recovered an ISIS flag, which is black with white lettering, from the vehicle used in the attack.
Officials had initially put the death toll at 15, but the FBI clarified on Thursday that the total number of fatalities included Jabbar.
Raia also spoke about Wednesday’s explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas, which killed a man inside the vehicle. The incident sparked an intense investigation into possible terrorism linked to the New Orleans attack.
“At this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas,” he said.
The Cybertruck was packed with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters. The person who died in the explosion was an active-duty U.S. army soldier, three U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. Law enforcement officials identified the man inside the futuristic-looking pickup truck as Matthew Livelsberger, believed to have lived in Colorado.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, speaking at the same news conference as Raia, said Bourbon Street will be reopened before the Sugar Bowl football game, now scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. local time on Thursday.
Authorities assessed no “credible threat” from the events on Bourbon Street early Wednesday, according to a joint Louisiana and New Orleans police threat assessment obtained by Reuters.
The document is dated December 2024 and notes there was no credible threat from international terrorists, homegrown violent extremists or domestic violent extremists.
