New Orleans attack latest: Terror suspect used bomb materials never seen in US as police probe how he got them
Police are investigating the materials used in the devices near the Bourbon Street attack
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Your support makes all the difference.The terror suspect in the New Orleans rampage that killed 14 people and injured dozens reportedly used materials to make explosives that have never been used in a U.S. attack.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas, used an extremely rare explosive compound that had never been seen before in any incidents in the U.S. or Europe, NBC News reported.
Jabbar planned to detonate two explosives that he had placed on Bourbon Street, FBI and ATF officials said in a joint statement Friday. He intended to use a transmitter, which was found in his vehicle, to ignite the bombs but ultimately did not.
It’s not immediately clear how or where he learned to make such an explosive. It’s yet another question for the FBI, which is also reportedly looking into Jabbar’s travel, including a trip to Egypt.
The federal agency is also trying to determine whether he became radicalized during his trip, ABC News reported.
Authorities recovered an ISIS flag from inside his vehicle.
“This next most important phase of the investigation is to find out how that radicalization happened and if it happened on that trip,” Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams told the network.
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FBI seize vehicle in New Orleans attack
The FBI Houston office announced Saturday that it had seized the vehicle that Shamsud-Din Jabbar used to plow into a crowd on Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring dozens more.
“On Jan. 1, after obtaining a court authorized warrant, FBI Houston’s SWAT and Bomb Techs, w/support from @HCSOTexas, safely cleared the suspect’s north Harris County house of any potential threats to safety of nearby residents. FBI Houston’s ERT then began its search of the home,” the FBI wrote in a statement on X.
The agency “completed its thorough, hours-long search of the suspect’s house on Jan. 2, secured it, and released the property to the owner that morning. On Jan. 3, FBI Houston returned to the area only to seize a vehicle near the residence in furtherance of the ongoing investigation.”
Jabbar was a U.S. citizen from Texas, authorities have said.
Texas Lt. Gov. Gov. Dan Patrick told Fox 26 that the suspect rented the pickup truck on Monday and had been driving the rented vehicle in Houston before heading to New Orleans.
ICYMI: King ‘deeply saddened’ after stepson of William and Harry’s nanny killed in New Orleans attack
King Charles is deeply saddened after a British man died in a vehicle attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, according to Buckingham Palace sources.
The king has been in touch with the family of Edward Pettifer, 31, who was killed by “blunt force injuries” when a pickup truck rammed into a crowd of New Year’s Eve revellers in Bourbon Street, Louisiana, killing at least 14 and injuring at least 35.
Mr Pettifer, who was named by Metropolitan Police on Saturday morning, is believed to be the stepson of Prince William and Prince Harry’s former nanny, Alexandra Pettifer, who was known as Tiggy.
The 31-year-old’s family described him as a “wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and friend to so many”.
Alex Croft reports.
Prince William ‘saddened’ after former nanny’s stepson killed in New Orleans attack
31-year-old Briton Edward Pettifer died in the New Orleans attack on New Year’s Day
Did New Orleans fail to secure Bourbon Street?
New Orleans officials are promising the city is safe as they prepare for the Super Bowl next month. But planning for that event might have allowed a suspected terrorist to rampage through the city’s most popular area.
A series of barricades designed to prevent cars from driving down parts of Bourbon Street had been removed and were not in place when an attacker sped into the French Quarter and killed at least 14 people in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.
Those “bollards” — installed as part of a years-long security plan for the tourist-heavy neighborhood — were intended to block that exact type of attack from happening.
But they were in the middle of being replaced in time for the city to host February’s Super Bowl LIX, which falls in the middle of a busy Carnival season calendar leading up to Mardi Gras day on March 4.
New Orleans readies for Sugar and Super bowls. Its prep work might have cost lives
Officials acknowledged major defense gap and suggested beefed-up security could not have stopped massacre
Suspect used rare explosive compound never seen in U.S. terror attack: report
Shamsud-Din Jabbar created homemade explosives with a rare compound, according to NBC News.
This compound had never been seen before in a U.S. or European incident, the outlet reported.
Jabbar planned to detonate two explosives that he had placed on Bourbon Street, FBI and ATF officials said in a joint statement Friday.
He had intended to use a transmitter, which was found in his vehicle, to detonate the bombs but ultimately did not, officials said.
‘My anxiety is at an all-time high’
New Orleans officials have reopened Bourbon Street, now heavily guarded with military police, fresh barricades and 14 roses to mark the 14 people who were killed in what law enforcement officials have labeled an act of terror.
Authorities removed the remaining bodies and swept blood from the sidewalks and streets beginning at 2 a.m. Thursday. Deliveries to the street’s bars and restaurants resumed a few hours later.
Several blocks of Bourbon and surrounding streets had been blocked off, businesses were closed and residents living in the footprint of an active crime scene were navigating police tape and barricades after a driver plowed a pickup truck into a crowd shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday.
Thousands of workers — still checking on the safety of friends and colleagues — are now returning to the bars, restaurants, music venues, hotels, gift shops and other businesses that keep the city’s tourism economy running.
One French Quarter worker told The Independent she was dreading returning to work.
“My anxiety is at an all-time high,” she said.
Bourbon reopens hours after blood cleaned from the streets. Workers are conflicted
EXCLUSIVE: Service industry workers tell Alex Woodward that New Orleans is failing to protect the people fueling the city’s critical tourist economy
Everything we know about Shamsud-Din Jabbar
A New Year’s celebration in New Orleans was interrupted when a terrorist slammed into a crowd of revelers, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more.
The attack occurred around 3:15 a.m. on Bourbon Street when a suspect rammed into a crowd. More than 30 others were injured in the attack and have been transported to hospitals. Police warn the death toll could change as more information is received.
The FBI is investigating the incident “as an act of terrorism” and say it was carried out by 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar. Authorities say he had an ISIS flag on his truck as he plowed into the crowd, according to reports. Details about his life and background are starting to be revealed as investigators search for information about what led to the attack.
Kelly Rissman has the story.
New Orleans attack suspect had ‘dreams’ that inspired him to join ISIS: What we know
Authorities are reviewing disturbing videos of the suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar where he ‘proclaimed his support for ISIS’ and threatened to kill his family
Woman shot in New Orleans terror attack describes how her mom helped save her over the phone
An Alabama woman wounded in Wednesday’s New Orleans truck attack said her mother’s quick thinking during an emergency phone call helped save her life.
Alexis Scott-Windham, 23, of Mobile, Alabama, was in the French Quarter the evening before the attack to celebrate New Year’s Eve with friends.
She was one of scores of people that attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, hit with a rented truck in the early hours of New Year’s Day, a massacre which ultimately killed 14 people.
Scott-Windham, after the truck clipped her, was then hit in the foot during gunfire between Jabbar and police that followed the vehicle attack
More details in our full story.
Woman shot in New Orleans attack describes how phone call to mom helped save her
23-year-old from Alabama was hit in truck attack then shot – but survived the ordeal
Workers anxiously return to Bourbon Street
Less than 36 hours after a massacre at the gateway to the French Quarter, New Orleans officials reopened Bourbon Street, now heavily guarded with military police, fresh barricades and 14 roses to mark the 14 people who were killed in what law enforcement officials have labeled an act of terror.
Authorities removed the remaining bodies and swept blood from the sidewalks and streets beginning at 2 a.m. Thursday. Deliveries to the street’s bars and restaurants resumed a few hours later.
Several blocks of Bourbon and surrounding streets had been blocked off, businesses were closed and residents living in the footprint of an active crime scene were navigating police tape and barricades after a driver plowed a pickup truck into a crowd shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday.
Thousands of workers — still checking on the safety of friends and colleagues — are now returning to the bars, restaurants, music venues, hotels, gift shops and other businesses that keep the city’s tourism economy running.
One French Quarter worker told The Independent she was dreading returning to work.
“My anxiety is at an all-time high,” she said. “Thankfully I have health insurance through my spouse, but a lot of hospitality workers are uninsured and underpaid. Having to risk your life for a job that most likely doesn’t care about you is awful. Praying for us all.”
Alex Woodward reports.
Bourbon reopens hours after blood cleaned from the streets. Workers are conflicted
EXCLUSIVE: Service industry workers tell Alex Woodward that New Orleans is failing to protect the people fueling the city’s critical tourist economy
New Orleans attack suspect had ‘dreams’ that inspired him to join ISIS. What we know
The suspect in the deadly New Orleans attack on New Year’s Day “proclaimed his support for ISIS” and made chilling threats to kill his family in videos recorded ahead of the massacre, the FBI confirmed.
Christopher Raia, the FBI’s deputy assistant director of its counter terrorism division, said at a press conference Thursday that they are reviewing disturbing videos of the suspect, 42-year-old Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, where he discussed plans to kill his family in recordings made before the attack.
New Year’s celebrations in the city ended in tragedy when the suspected terrorist slammed into a crowd of revelers, killing at least 14 innocent people and injuring more than 30 others. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene after a standoff with authorities.
Raia shared a timeline of the suspect’s movements before carrying out the attack, detailing how he planted two IED devices in coolers in the bustling area before he rammed into the crowd in a pickup truck on Bourbon Street at around 3:15 a.m.
Kelly Rissman and Rhian Lubin report.
New Orleans attack suspect had ‘dreams’ that inspired him to join ISIS: What we know
Authorities are reviewing disturbing videos of the suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar where he ‘proclaimed his support for ISIS’ and threatened to kill his family
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