New Orleans, U.S. – The suspect responsible for the New Year’s Day truck attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans acted alone, the FBI confirmed Thursday, following a detailed update on the investigation.
The attack, which claimed the lives of 14 people and injured dozens of others, was described as a “premeditated and evil act” by Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counter-terrorism division.
At a news conference Thursday morning, Raia, alongside Governor Jeff Landry and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, provided new details about the investigation.
Raia announced that after a thorough review of evidence, the FBI now believes the sole perpetrator, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, acted independently. This marks a shift from earlier statements, in which authorities had expressed concerns about 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 stated.
The tragic incident, which occurred in the heart of New Orleans’ popular Bourbon Street, involved Jabbar driving a truck into a crowd of people, killing 14 and leaving many more injured. In addition to the vehicle attack, two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were found at the scene, prompting further concern over the possibility of a coordinated assault.
FBI officials clarified that while initial reports suggested multiple people may have been involved in placing the IEDs, surveillance footage confirmed that only Jabbar was seen planting the devices—one at the intersection of Bourbon and Orleans streets, and another two blocks away.
Authorities also noted that additional footage showed individuals near one of the IEDs, but these people merely stopped to examine the cooler housing the device before walking away.
“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.”
The FBI has dispatched special agents from several field offices to assist in the investigation, including bomb technicians, evidence response teams, hostage rescue units, and crisis management coordinators.
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.
The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are working to gather more details about Jabbar’s motivations and actions leading up to the attack.
Gov. Landry and Mayor Cantrell expressed condolences to the victims’ families and vowed to ensure justice is served as the investigation continues.
Authorities continue to urge anyone with information related to the attack to come forward.
