The FBI announced Thursday that the suspect in the New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans acted alone, despite previous reports of possible accomplices.
official identified Shamsud-Din Jabbar plays the driver of a Ford pickup truck that plows through a crowd on Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning. Moments later, police killed Jabbar in a gunfight as he allegedly had an ISIS flag in his car.
“At this time, we have not assessed that anyone other than Shamsuddin Jabbar was involved in this attack,” Christopher Raia, assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, said at a press conference.
The FBI reviewed surveillance footage showing Jabbar, a Texas-born American, planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs), two of which were recovered by FBI bomb technicians from a cooler on a nearby street. attacked. After an investigation, authorities concluded that no one else was involved in Mr. Jabbar’s attack.
Later in the press conference, Raia reiterated, “I am confident that there are no other accomplices at this time.”
“Many of the initial reports were that there were extra people setting up coolers. It turns out they were just patrons on the street looking into the coolers.” continued Mr. Laia. “But we didn’t know that at first, so we had to track everything down and resolve the issue.”
“Information changes. In fact, that’s why we ask for patience from the media,” Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said in response to a reporter who asked about the FBI’s information switch.
The FBI believes the attack, which left 15 people dead, including Jabbar, and injured dozens, was an act of terrorism.
“Let me be clear on this point: This was an act of terrorism. It was a premeditated and evil act,” Raia said. (Related: FBI initially claims New Orleans attack was not terrorism, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary).
“What I can tell you now is that he was 100% inspired by ISIS,” he later admitted.
Raia appealed to those who knew Jabbar to contact authorities if they had any information.
“Whether you know Jabbar, worked with him personally, were in the military, or saw him in New Orleans or Texas, we need to talk to you. ” he said. “You may not think you have relevant information, but what you know could lead to leads for investigators.”
