The suspect in the New Year’s Day truck attack on Bourbon Street acted alone when he slammed his vehicle into a crowd, killing 14 and injuring dozens of others, the FBI said Thursday.
FBI officials, Gov. Jeff Landry, Mayor LaToya Cantrell provided an update on the investigation at a news conference Thursday morning.
“It was premeditated and an evil act,” said Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counter-terrorism division.
Raia said the agency has sent special agents from multiple field offices to aid the investigation, including evidence response technicians, hostage rescue team members, bomb technicians, and crisis management coordinators.
Here's what we know so far.
Suspect was lone wolf
Raia said the FBI now believes the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar acted alone in his attack, a shift from statements made Wednesday that the agency was looking for additional suspects.
“We do not assess at this point that anyone else is involved in this attack except for Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the subject you’ve already been briefed on," Raia said.
The Associated Press reported that investigators had surveillance video showing four people placing an improvised explosive device at the scene. However, the FBI later clarified that surveillance footage showed only Jabbar placing IEDs where they were found — one at the intersection of Bourbon and Orleans streets and another two blocks away.
Additional surveillance footage showed people near one of the two IEDs, but they were seen stopping to look at the cooler it was housed in before continuing on their way.
"We do not believe they were involved in any way," Raia said. "But we want to speak to them as witnesses and want to know what they saw."
Update on death toll
Raia clarified that 15 people, including Jabbar, were killed in the attack, updating the tally to 14 victims and 35 people injured.
Jabbar posted videos in support of ISIS
Raia said Jabbar posted several videos pledging support for ISIS before his attack.
In five videos shared on Facebook — time-stamped between 1:29 a.m. and 3:02 a.m., moments before the attack on Bourbon — Jabbar said he initially planned to harm family and friends, but changed course, thinking that wouldn’t garner enough media attention.
He was “concerned the news headlines would not focus on the ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers,’” Raia said.
Jabbar also said he joined ISIS before the summer and also provided a will and testament, Raia said.
“He was 100% inspired by ISIS,” he added.
Why New Orleans?
Investigators say Jabbar rented a truck in Houston on Dec. 30 and drove to New Orleans the following day. However, investigators have not clarified the motive behind his choice of New Orleans.
“We know that he specifically picked out Bourbon Street, not sure why,” Raia said.
Bourbon Street to reopen
Raia said the FBI finished work on Bourbon Street and turned it over to the city. Cantrell said she felt confident the city would be able to reopen the street to the public ahead of the Sugar Bowl's kickoff at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
The game, which will feature the No. 2 seed Georgia Bulldogs and the. No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, was postponed Wednesday following the attack.
“The city of New Orleans, we’re resilient,” Cantrell said.
Is Bourbon Street safer?
Bollards installed at Bourbon Street intersections were missing when Jabbar drove into the crowd. Cantrell said that Mardi Gras beads and other debris caused previous bollards to malfunction, and a new bollard system has been under construction since November.
At Thursday's press conference, Landry was asked what was being done to make the streets safer.
“Nothing is 100%," he said. "We have reinforced the area. We have deployed some additional types of assets. I can tell you we’re in better shape than we were before.”
Landry didn't say whether temporary bollards were being brought in to block off the street.
400+ tips to FBI
The FBI has already received more than 400 tips in the case, Raia said. Investigators are following up on leads in New Orleans and in other parts of the country, he added.
No link between attack and Vegas explosion
Raia denied any evidence of a link between Jabbar's attack in New Orleans and an incident in Las Vegas where a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside of a Trump Hotel, killing an active-duty Army soldier.
"We're following up on all potential leads and not ruling everything out. However, at this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas," Raia said.
He prefaced that they were still in the early stages of the investigations.
Fire at Mandeville scene
The attack was linked to a fire that broke out at a short-term rental in the 1200 block of Mandeville Street in the St. Roch neighborhood. WVUE-TV Fox 8 reported that bomb-making materials were found inside the home.
On Thursday, ATF officials said they believe the fire occurred after Jabbar's death, and it's unclear if it was intended to destroy evidence.
“There are a lot of ways that [the fire] could happen. You could have a timed device. ... You could also have pressure cookers, put on top of a stove, filled with gasoline. There are a lot of ways to do it, and that is why the ATF tactical response team is here,” Joshua Jackson, ATF special agent in charge said.
Officials were still processing the scene on Thursday morning. Raia mentioned during the 10 a.m. news conference that two laptops belonging to Jabbar were recovered from the scene, as well as three cell phones belonging to him found on Bourbon Street. The FBI is working to find out what's on the devices and look for any potential leads.
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