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From CBS News: Five days after a pickup truck flying the ISIS flag rammed through a crowd celebrating New Year’s Eve in New Orleans, investigators say they are learning more about the background and possible motives of the driver who carried out the deadly attack.
While following leads that have cropped up in several United States cities outside of Louisiana, federal agents are also looking into a series of trips the driver took to New Orleans and Cairo, Egypt, in 2023, said Lyonel Myrthil, the special agent in charge of FBI New Orleans, at a briefing Sunday.
The FBI previously identified the perpetrator as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas. He was fatally shot by police during the rampage on Bourbon Street, in New Orleans’ French Quarter, which left 14 people dead and dozens more injured. Authorities have characterized the attack as an act of terrorism, pointing to social media videos where Jabbar aligned himself with ISIS, and believe he was likely radicalized online.
Investigators said they have not found any evidence of any accomplices in the attack, and believe Jabbar acted alone without any help from U.S. sources. However, they are exploring potential connections he may have had internationally, and are zoning in on two trips he took in 2023.
According to the FBI, Jabbar traveled to Cairo, Egypt from June 22 to July 3, 2023, and then to Ontario, Canada, from July 10 to July 13, also in 2023.
🇺🇸🚨 NEW: The FBI disclosed further details about Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s actions leading up to the New Orleans terror attack. The bureau reported that Jabbar made two trips to New Orleans in October and November of last year. On December 31, he visited multiple gun shops in Texas… pic.twitter.com/efO61vQXKG
— TabZ (@TabZLIVE) January 5, 2025
In another chilling revelation, Jabbar had made at least two trips to New Orleans to scout out the city and the route he would take to commit the horrific massacre. He went there both in October and November of 2024, and used Meta glasses during one of those trips to record the route while riding through the French Quarter on a bicycle.
Starting on October, Jabbar began staying part time at a rental home in New Orleans. He went there on October 30, staying for a couple days, and made a second trip on November 10.
He had purchased a rifle on December 19 through a private sale in Texas. Also, on December 31, the day prior to the attack, Jabbar visited multiple gun stores in Texas, and purchased a gun at one of the stores.
Jabbar was wearing the Meta glasses at the time of the attack on New Year’s Day, but had not activated the live-streaming feature to record his actions.
Jabbar had strategically placed two coolers filled with explosives in the French Quarter, at 1:53 am and at 2:20 a.m., just prior to the attack, and had a transmitter in his vehicle to detonate the two bombs. However, police shot and killed him before he was able to activate the transmitter, which saved countless more lives.
Sunday morning, the FBI released a chilling video on YouTube, along with the following explanation:
This video has no sound. It is a selection of video clips related to the January 1, 2025, attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
Clip 1: On October 31, 2024, Jabbar recorded video from his Meta glasses as he rode a bicycle through the French Quarter.
Clip 2: In October 2024, Jabbar recorded himself looking into a mirror at the home he rented to test the ability of his Meta glasses to record.
Clip 3: January 1, 2025, at approximately 1:53 a.m. CST, Jabbar leaves the first IED inside a blue cooler at Bourbon Street and St. Peters St. It was found a block away at Orleans St. after multiple unknowing Bourbon Street visitors grabbed the cooler’s handle and moved it.
Clip 4: January 1, 2025, at approximately 2:20 a.m. CST, Jabbar leaves the second IED inside a “bucket-style” cooler at Bourbon and Toulouse Streets.
Clip 5: Jabbar is seen clearly on surveillance video walking down Governor Nicholls St. He walked towards his truck to pick up the second cooler. His brown long coat was recovered in the F-150 truck at the scene of the deadly terrorist attack.
WATCH the full Sunday morning press conference below:
Federal agents investigating the deadly Bourbon Street attack say the perpetrator traveled to Cairo, Eygpt, in the summer of 2023 and to New Orleans in the fall.https://t.co/tyGszSJw6N
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 5, 2025
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