'This was an act of terrorism... premeditated and evil'

FBI: Driver in New Orleans rampage acted alone, was ‘100%’ inspired by Islamic State

US army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar shot dead by cops after ramming into New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street, killing 14, in deadliest IS-inspired assault in US in years; no link seen to Vegas blast

This undated passport photo provided by the FBI on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, shows Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, who died after killing 14 people celebrating New Year's on New Orleans' Bourbon Street. (FBI via AP)
This undated passport photo provided by the FBI on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, shows Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, who died after killing 14 people celebrating New Year's on New Orleans' Bourbon Street. (FBI via AP)

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) — The United States Army veteran who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers acted alone, the FBI said Thursday, reversing its position from a day earlier that he had likely worked with others in the deadly attack that officials said was inspired by the Islamic State group.

The FBI also revealed that the driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a US citizen from Texas, posted five videos on his Facebook account in the hours before the attack in which he proclaimed his support for the Islamic State and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the city’s famed French Quarter district.

“This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act,” said Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, calling Jabbar “100% inspired” by the Islamic State.

The attack killed 14 revelers, along with Jabbar, who was fatally shot in a firefight with police after steering his speeding truck around a barricade and plowing into the crowd.

Dozens were wounded in the attack, including two Israeli tourists who sustained serious injuries.

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

That threat is emerging as the FBI and other agencies brace for dramatic leadership upheaval after the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Seeking to assuage concerns about any broader plots, Raia stressed that there was no indication of a connection between the New Orleans attack and a Tesla Cybertruck explosion Wednesday outside the Las Vegas location of the Trump hotel chain.

US military personnel walk down Bourbon Street after a terror attack there, in New Orleans, Louisiana, January 2, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

The FBI continued to hunt for clues, but said that 24 hours into its investigation, it was now confident that the 42-year-old Jabbar was not aided by anyone else in the attack, which killed an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a father of two and a former Princeton University football star.

Officials have reviewed surveillance video showing people standing near an improvised explosive device that Jabbar placed in a cooler along the city’s Bourbon Street, where the attack occurred, but authorities “do not believe at this point these people are involved … in any way,” Raia said.

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

The FBI recovered a black Islamic State flag from his 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 that news headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers,” Raia said. He also left a last will and testament, the FBI said.

People react at the intersection of Bourbon Street and Canal Street during the investigation after a pickup truck rammed into a crowd of revelers early on New Year’s Day in New Orleans, Louisiana, January 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

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.

Abdur-Rahim Jabbar, Jabbar’s younger brother, told The Associated Press on Thursday that 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 that his brother had been isolated in the last few years, but that he had also been in touch with him and he didn’t see any signs of radicalization.

“It’s completely contradictory to who he was and how his family and his friends know him,” he said.

Investigators work the scene where a man rammed his vehicle into a crowd of New Year’s revelers, killing several, on Canal and Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, January 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

In New Orleans on Thursday, a still-reeling city inched back toward normal operations. Authorities finished processing the scene early in the morning, removing the last of the bodies, and Bourbon Street was set to reopen at some point later in the day, according to an official familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to the AP.

The Sugar Bowl college football game between Notre Dame and Georgia, initially set for Wednesday night and postponed by a day in the interest of national security, was still on for Thursday. The city planned to host the Super Bowl next month.

“This is one of the safest places on earth,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said. “It doesn’t mean that nothing can’t happen.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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