Austin [Texas], January 3: A U.S. Army veteran who drove a truck into a crowd of New Year's Day revelers in New Orleans had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, but acted alone in the attack that killed at least 14 people, the FBI said.
The suspect, who the FBI said was shot dead at the scene after firing at 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. On the morning of the attack, between 1:29 a.m. and 3:02 a.m., he posted five videos on Facebook in which he said he supported IS, the Islamic militant group with fighters in Iraq and Syria, the FBI said.
The massacre in New Orleans's famed Bourbon Street nightlife district during a holiday celebration has made for an unnerving start to the new year in the U.S., with law enforcement officials across the country promising heightened security for upcoming public events.
In his first video, Jabbar said he previously planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned that the media coverage would not focus on the "war between the believers and the disbelievers," FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said at a press conference.
Jabbar also said in the videos that he had joined IS before last summer and provided his last will and testament, Raia said.
Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives were told at a briefing by David Scott, an assistant director in the FBI's counterterrorism division, that Jabbar was not on any government watchlist and the bureau had found no evidence he was directed by any foreign individual or group.
Surveillance video footage showed Jabbar placing two improvised explosive devices in coolers a few hours before the attack at intersections around Bourbon Street, the popular New Orleans tourist destination where the attack unfolded, Raia said. They were both rendered safe at the scene.
Other people were seen on video looking at the coolers, who investigators now believe were just curious passers-by, not accomplices.
New Orleans officials said the Sugar Bowl college football game that had been scheduled for Wednesday in a New Year's Day tradition would take place on Thursday afternoon, and Bourbon Street was reopened to the public shortly before. The city is readying for weeks of Mardi Gras celebrations that begin on Jan. 6, and will also host the National Football League's Super Bowl next month, with city officials promising heightened security for the crowded events.
The FBI said there appeared to be no link between the attack in New Orleans and the incident in Las Vegas on the same day in which a rented Tesla Cybertruck packed with gasoline canisters and large firework mortars exploded in flames outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House on Jan. 20. The Tesla's driver, an active duty soldier in the U.S. Army, fatally shot himself moments before the explosion, Las Vegas police said.
Two police officers were among those hurt in New Orleans, wounded by gunfire from the suspect during the attack, which took place a mere three hours into the new year in the historic French Quarter. At least 14 people and the suspect were killed, the FBI said, and 35 were injured.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
