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.
No link between attack and Vegas explosion
Raia denied any 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.
Before the attack
In a video posted to YouTube years ago, Jabbar touted his work in the military.
“I learned the meaning of great service and what it means to be responsive and taking everything seriously, dotting I’s and crossing T’s to make sure things go off without a hitch,” he said.
Jabbar said he applied those skills in his realty work for Blue Meadow Properties before the company was listed as inactive in 2023.
“I feel like what really sets me apart from other agents is my ability to be able to be a fierce negotiator,” he said in the one-minute video online introducing the property business.
Before entering the realty business, Jabbar served as a human resource specialist and an IT specialist in the U.S. Army from 2007 until 2015. He then served as an IT specialist in the U.S. Army Reserve until 2020. From 2009 to 2010, Jabbar was deployed to Afghanistan.
Jabbar’s financial situation allegedly declined around 2022 during divorce proceedings from his wife, according to court records. He made around $10,000 doing business development work during his employment with Deloitte. He accumulated credit card debt and requested swift action to finalize the divorce, the AP reported.
In 2002, then-20-year-old Jabbar was arrested and charged with theft in Harris County, but court records do not indicate the specific nature of the theft.
Records show he was a U.S.-born citizen
The seemingly unprecedented attack on Bourbon Street triggered a slurry of misinformation about Jabbar’s citizenship status just hours after authorities identified him. President-elect Donald Trump, United States representatives and self-proclaimed citizen journalists of X used the attack to call on stronger border legislation.
However, records show that Jabbar was born in Texas. His family members reside in Beaumont and Fort Bend County, according to records. Houston Public Media reached out to a person identified as a former wife of Jabbar, but the individual declined to comment.
His travel from Houston to New Orleans
On Wednesday, investigators combed the French Quarter and Jabbar’s Houston home. An Islamic State flag was attached to the pick-up truck allegedly used by Jabbar. An explosive device was also reportedly found in the vehicle, which Jabbar had allegedly rented via an app called Turo. On Thursday, Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division, told a room of reporters in New Orleans that the man’s attack was, definitively, an act of terrorism.
Law enforcement officials had originally speculated that more suspects could be involved in the attack but on Thursday they deduced that Jabbar allegedly acted alone.
“At this point, investigators believe that Jabbar picked up a rented F-150 in Houston, Texas on Dec. 30,” Raia said. “He then drove from Houston to New Orleans on the evening of the 31st and he posted several videos to an online platform proclaiming his support for ISIS.”
Following the execution of a search warrant by bomb technicians, counterterrorism investigators and law enforcement, officials announced Thursday that there was no threat to the surrounding community.
A 'normal person'
Those who interacted with Jabbar regularly did not raise any concerns about his behavior — only how his actions would possibly reflect on the largely Muslim community surrounding the property.
A neighbor of Jabbar, who did not want to be named, said he saw Jabbar loading items into the white pick-up truck that was allegedly used to carry out the attack.
“Unfortunately, we don’t feel comfortable after what happened,” he said. “How people will look at people who practice our religion.”
Jabbar was “quiet, calm — no trouble, no [loud music],” the man said outside of his home Thursday. “We don’t have any problems.”
One neighbor described Jabbar as a “normal person.” Another neighbor, who did not immediately recognize a photograph of Jabbar, said the incident and increased police presence raises new concerns for him.
"I just heard about this and I am scared because I have kids at my home," Faisal Siddiqui told reporters from the driver’s seat of his car on Wednesday. "I am scared now because I think we are not safe."
Lucio Vasquez contributed to this report.