The FBI has released a statement providing more details on the New Orleans attacker.
It identifies him as Shamsud-Din Jabbar and says he is a US citizen from Texas.
It adds that he was driving a Ford pick-up truck “which appears to have been rented” and that the agency is working to confirm how he came into possession of the vehicle.
“An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organisations,” the statement adds.
It says that weapons and a potential IED (improvised explosive device) were also located in the vehicle.
“Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter,” it adds.
“The FBI’s Special Agent Bomb Technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable and they will work to render those devices safe.”
"Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the New Orleans attackAn ISIS flag was on a pole on the truck used in the attack, the FBI said-.ABC
New Orleans attack suspect was ‘hell-bent’ on killing people: OfficialsSuspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Army veteran and U.S. citizen, allegedly plowed a rented pickup truc..
The suspect in a deadly attack on New Year’s revelers in New Orleans has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S.-born citizen and U.S. Army veteran from Texas, according to the FBI.
A senior official told ABC News that authorities currently believe Jabbar was radicalized in the last few years — and that radicalization may have been exacerbated by the Israel-Hamas war.
At least 15 people were killed and over two dozen injured after a man drove a Ford pickup truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street at a high rate of speed early Wednesday, officials said.
Authorities are working to determine whether the deceased suspect had any affiliation with terrorist organizations after an ISIS flag was found on a pole on the truck’s trailer hitch.
Addressing the nation from Camp David on Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden said, “The FBI also reported to me that mere hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media indicating that he’s inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill.”
“The ISIS flag was found in his vehicle, which he rented to conduct this attack,” Biden said. “Possible explosives were found in the vehicle as well, and more explosives were found nearby.”
However, he cautioned, “The situation is very fluid and the investigation is in its preliminary stage.”
The FBI is studying videos the suspect appears to have recorded while driving from Texas to Louisiana, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The suspect is not seen but is allegedly heard talking about his divorce and about a desire to kill members of his family before ultimately deciding to carry out the attack on Bourbon Street, the sources said.
The suspect is also heard talking about ISIS, the sources said.
15 dead, dozens injured after vehicle plows into crowd in ‘terrorist attack’
‘Hell-bent’ on creating carnage
After barreling through the crowd over a three-block stretch, the suspect allegedly got out of the truck wielding an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, law enforcement officials briefed on the incident told ABC News.
Officers returned fire, killing the suspect, police said. At least two police officers were shot and wounded, authorities said.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said at a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
She said the driver was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
Weapons and potential IEDs were located in the suspect’s vehicle and other potential IEDs were located in the French Quarter, according to the FBI, which is leading the investigation. As of now, two IEDs have been found and rendered safe, the FBI said.
Investigators found homemade pipe bombs at the scene of the Bourbon Street attack, law enforcement sources told ABC News. The crude devices contained coils and nails, the sources said. Authorities also found a grenade, which is among the items tested for viability, sources said.
The deceased suspect is seen in the New Orleans attack on Jan. 1, 2025.
Obtained by ABC News
In addition to the assault rifle, Jabbar was allegedly armed with a handgun, sources with knowledge of the investigation told ABC News.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the horrific incident as a “terrorist attack” and the FBI said it was being investigated as an act of terror.
Not believed to have acted alone
The suspect is not believed to be “solely responsible” for the attack, according to the FBI, which said it is pursuing leads to identify any of his associates.
“There are other potential suspects out there, as well,” said New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno on Wednesday. “So we do have really a multi-agency effort at this point to identify anyone else who may have had anything to do with this particular incident and make sure that justice does prevail and that these individuals are caught and targeted immediately.”
New Orleans police have reviewed surveillance video that appears to show several people planting potential explosive devices in advance of the vehicle ramming, leading the FBI to conclude the driver of the pickup truck did not act alone in the attack, law enforcement sources told ABC News early Wednesday.
Individuals appearing in one such video relating to the area where potential explosive devices were thought to have been planted are being considered unrelated passersby as of Wednesday evening, federal authorities said, though the investigation remains ongoing.
Investigators are urgently working to identify any individuals appearing on camera in potentially related areas and will take any potential persons of interest into custody, sources said.
“It’s all hands on deck to find anyone else who had any type of involvement in this,” Moreno said.
President Joe Biden makes a statement about the terrorist attack in New Orleans on Bourbon Street from Camp David, Maryland, Jan. 1, 2025.
Chris Kleponis/AFP via Getty Images
In his remarks on Wednesday evening, Biden confirmed that the law enforcement
