The man who rammed a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans had suspected bomb-making materials at his home and reserved the vehicle used in the deadly attack more than six weeks earlier, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press on Friday (January 3, 2025).

Federal authorities searching the home of Shamsud-Din Jabbar in Houston found a workbench in the garage and hazardous materials believed to have been used to make explosive devices, according to law enforcement officials familiar with the search. The officials were not authorized to speak about the ongoing inquiry and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

The FBI investigation also revealed that Jabbar purchased a cooler in Vidor, Texas, hours before the attack and gun oil from a store in Sulphur, Louisiana, the officials said. Authorities also determined Jabbar booked his rental of the pickup truck on Nov. 14, suggesting he may have been plotting the attack for more than six weeks.

Authorities say 14 people were killed and about 30 were injured in the attack early Wednesday by Jabbar, a former Army soldier who posted several videos on his Facebook hours before the attack previewing the violence he would unleash and proclaiming his support for the Islamic State militant group. The coroner’s office listed the cause of death for all 14 victims as “blunt force injuries.”

Jabbar, 42, was fatally shot in a firefight with police at the scene of the deadly crash on Bourbon Street, famous worldwide for its festive vibes in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter.

Authorities found crude bombs that had been planted in the neighborhood in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene, officials said. Other devices were determined to be nonfunctional.

Investigators recovered from Jabbar’s rental truck a transmitter intended to trigger the two bombs, the FBI said in a statement Friday. It also said authorities found bomb-making materials at the New Orleans home Jabbar rented prior to the attack. Jabbar tried to burn the house down by setting a small fire in a hallway and placing accelerants to help spread it, the FBI said. The flames burned out before firefighters arrived.

Authorities on Friday were still investigating Jabbar’s motives and how he carried out the attack. They say he exited the crashed truck wearing a ballistic vest and helmet and fired at police, wounding at least two officers before he was fatally shot by officers returning fire.

New Orleans police declined to say Friday how many shots were fired by Jabbar and police, and whether any bystanders may have been hit, citing the active investigation.

Stella Cziment, who heads the city’s civilian-run Office of the Independent Police Monitor, said investigators are working to account for “every single bullet that was fired” and whether any of them struck bystanders.

Bourbon Street was solemn Friday. A day after the crime scene reopened to the public, locals and tourists stopped to pay respects to victims of the attack as the sound of bucket drums echoed. People shed tears while gathering at a growing memorial. Some left flowers and candles while others dropped to their knees to say a quick prayer.

“New Orleans is about having a good time, you know, just trying to live your best life,” said Tony Lightfoot, who works in Baton Rouge and was visiting New Orleans with his son. He said the attacker “just decided to disrupt all of that.”

Thirteen people remained hospitalized. Eight people were in intensive care at University Medical Center New Orleans, spokesperson Carolina Giepert said.

The White House said President Joe Biden would travel to New Orleans next week. The President and First Lady planned to visit Monday to “grieve with the families and community members impacted by the tragic attack.”

Police used multiple vehicles and barricades on Friday to block traffic at Bourbon and Canal streets as crowds of pedestrians swelled. Other law enforcement agencies helped city officers provide extra security, said Reese Harper, a spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department.

The first parade of the Carnival season leading up to Mardi Gras was scheduled to take place Monday. New Orleans will also host the Super Bowl on Feb. 9.

“This enhanced safety effort will continue daily, not just during large events,” Harper said in a statement.

In a previous effort to protect the French Quarter, the city had installed steel columns known as bollards to restrict vehicle access to Bourbon Street. The posts retracted to allow for deliveries to bars and restaurants, until — gummed up by Mardi Gras beads, beer and other detritus — they stopped working reliably.

So when New Year’s Eve arrived, the bollards were gone. They were being replaced ahead of the Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno took steps toward launching an investigation of the attack. In a memo to another council member obtained by AP, Moreno said she was initiating the creation of a local and state legislative committee “dedicated to reviewing the incident and its implications.”

“This committee will play a crucial role in assessing our current policies, enhancing security measures, and ensuring that we are adequately prepared to respond to any future threats,” Moreno wrote.

The FBI concluded Jabbar was not aided by anyone else in the attack, which killed an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton University football star, among others.

Thirteen of the 14 victims have been identified by the New Orleans coroner’s office, with the youngest listed as 18 and the oldest 63. Most of the victims were in their 20s. One victim, whose identity was withheld by the coroner’s office at the request of family, was a British citizen.

It was the deadliest IS-inspired assault on U.S. soil in years, laying bare what federal officials have warned is a resurgent international terrorism threat.

Brian Lee plays the piano with his band at Ticklers Piano Show on Bourbon Street, following the opening of the street, on the day of 2025 Sugar Bowl, after people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year’s celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., January 2, 2025.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

A mix of law enforcement, street performers and football fans has filled New Orleans’ blocks as the city inches back to normalcy while mourning victims of the deadly New Year’s rampage in which an Army veteran ploughed a truck into revellers.

Also read: New Orleans truck attacker ‘inspired’ by the Islamic State: FBI

The attack along Bourbon Street killed 14 people, along with the driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who officials said was inspired by the Islamic State militant group. Jabbar was fatally shot in a firefight with police after steering his speeding truck around a barricade and ploughing into the crowd. About 30 people were injured.

Authorities finished processing the scene on Thursday (January 2, 2025) morning, removing the last of the bodies. Bourbon Street — famous worldwide for music, open-air drinking and festive vibes — reopened for business by early afternoon.

On the same block where the attack took place, trombone player and lifelong New Orleanian Jonas Green said it was important for his band to be out there the day after the violence.

“I know with this music, it heals, it transforms the feelings that we’re going through into something better,” Green said. “Got to keep on going.”

The Sugar Bowl college football game between Notre Dame and Georgia, which was postponed by a day in the interest of national security, was played Thursday evening.

The Joan of Arc parade in the French Quarter is still scheduled to take place Monday (January 6, 2025) to kick off carnival season ahead of Mardi Gras, said Antoinette de Alteriis, one of the organisers. She said they expect close to its typical crowd of around 30,000 participants

FBI confident it was ‘lone wolf attack’

The FBI has continued to hunt for clues about Jabbar but, a day into its investigation, the agency said it was confident he was not aided by anyone else in the attack, which killed an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton University football star, among others.

The FBI said that hours before the attack, Jabbar, a 42-year-old American citizen from Texas, posted five videos on his Facebook account in which he proclaimed his support for the Islamic State group and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the famed French Quarter district.

It was the deadliest IS-inspired assault on US soil in years, laying bare what federal officials have warned is a resurgent international terrorism threat. It also comes as the FBI and other agencies brace for dramatic leadership upheaval, and likely policy changes, after President-elect Donald Trump’s administration takes office.

Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, stressed there was no indication of a connection between the New Orleans attack and the explosion Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck filled with explosives outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel.

The New Orleans attack plans also included the placement of crude bombs in the neighbourhood in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage, officials said. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene. Other devices were determined to be nonfunctional.

Investigators also were trying to understand more about Jabbar’s path to radicalization, which they say culminated with him picking up a rented truck in Houston on Dec. 30 and driving it to New Orleans the following night.

The FBI recovered a black IS flag from Jabbar’s rented pickup and reviewed five videos posted to Facebook, including one in which he said he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned news headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers,” Raia said.

Jabbar also stated he joined IS before last summer and provided a last will and testament, the FBI said.

Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.

A US government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorised to speak publicly, said Jabbar travelled to Egypt in 2023, staying in Cairo for a week, before returning to the US and then travelling to Toronto for three days. It was not immediately clear what he did during those travels.

Abdur-Rahim Jabbar, Jabbar’s younger brother, told The Associated Press on Thursday it “doesn’t feel real” that his brother could have done this.

“I never would have thought it’d be him,” he said. “It’s completely unlike him.” He said his brother had been isolated in the last few years but also had been in touch with him recently and did not see any signs of radicalisation.

On Bourbon Street, flowers and candles were arranged as memorials to the victims, while yellow posts were set up on the surrounding blocks. By Thursday night, bouncers danced to music blasting from clubs, tourists posed for photos and a group of street performers preparing to flip over a line of people had no trouble attracting a massive audience.

Mark Tabor, the manager of a Willie’s Chicken Shack on Bourbon Street, said it was strange to feel the disconnect between the normal hustle of the French Quarter outside and the violence he had witnessed less than 48 hours earlier.

“I’m glad they cleaned up the streets, but it’s like everything’s forgotten,” he said. “It’s sad.”

FBI agents look at the site where people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year’s celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., January 1, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says the New Orleans truck attacker acted alone in an “act of terrorism” when he drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers early Wednesday (January 1, 2025) , killing 15 people.

“The driver had posted videos on social media hours before the carnage saying he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressing a desire to kill,” President Joe Biden said.

The FBI identified the driver as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar.

Officials have not yet released the names of the people killed in the attack, but their families and friends have started sharing their stories. About 30 people were injured.