Latest:
- The FBI says the truck driver acted alone in the New Orleans attack.
- The agency calls it an act of terrorism inspired by ISIS, an Islamist militant group.
- There is no “definitive” connection between the Bourbon Street attack and the deadly Las Vegas explosion.
- Authorities did not assess a “credible threat” to New Orleans before the New Year's Day attack.
The FBI now says the pickup truck driver responsible for the deadly rampage on Bourbon Street in New Orleans acted alone.
Early Wednesday morning, a man drove a rented truck into the city's New Year's Eve crowd, killing 14 people and injuring dozens of others.
Officials initially said they were looking for additional potential suspects in the attack, which is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
But Christopher Raia, deputy director of the FBI's counterterrorism division, said Thursday that evidence showed Shamsud-Din Jabbar was solely responsible for the attack and had professed allegiance to ISIS, the Islamist militant group.
“We are sure there are no accomplices,” Raia told reporters.
FBI official Christopher Raia said Thursday that investigators do not believe at this time that anyone other than the defendant was involved in the New Orleans truck attack, which he described as an “act of terrorism” that left 14 innocent people dead.
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 bulletin said the devices were hidden in refrigerators and wired to detonate remotely using a remote control also found in the vehicle.
“Many early reports indicated that extra people were stacking the coolers,” Raia said.
He explained that they turned out to be citizens who simply took away the refrigerators that had already been placed.
“We didn't know about it at first, so we had to track it down and put it aside.”
Jabbar died after being rammed during a shootout with police.
“At this point, I can say that he was 100% inspired by ISIS,” Raia said, adding that investigators are reviewing more of his social media to “find out more about that connection.”
On Wednesday, the FBI said it found a black ISIS flag with white lettering in the vehicle used in the attack.
Authorities initially put the death toll at 15, but on Thursday the FBI clarified that Jabbar was among the total.
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 time, there is no definitive connection between the attack in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas,” he said.
The Cybertruck was filled with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters. On Thursday, three U.S. officials told the Associated Press that the victim of the explosion was an active-duty U.S. Army soldier. Law enforcement officials identified the man in the futuristic pickup truck as Matthew Livelsberger, who is believed to live in Colorado.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, speaking at the same press conference as Raia, said Bourbon Street will reopen in time for the Sugar Bowl football game, which currently kicks off Thursday at 3 p.m. local time.
Authorities did not assess a “credible threat” in connection with Wednesday's events on Bourbon Street, according to a joint threat assessment conducted by Louisiana and New Orleans police obtained by Reuters.
The document, dated December 2024, states there was no credible threat from international terrorists, homegrown violent extremists or domestic violent extremists.