New Orleans attack latest: Royals mourn British man among 14 killed as FBI probe suspect’s travels to Egypt
Authorities confirmed that a British national was among the 14 killed in the New Year’s Day attack
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Your support makes all the difference.Investigators are reportedly looking into the travel history of the suspect in the New Orleans attack, which killed 14 people and injured dozens more just hours into the new year.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas, traveled to Egypt alone for a month in 2023 and told his family he was going “because it was cheap and beautiful,” his half-brother AbdurJabbar told ABC News.
The FBI is looking into Jabbar’s foreign travel, including what he did and who he spoke to during his time in Egypt. The federal agency is also trying to determine whether he became radicalized during his trip, the outlet 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.
The news comes as authorities identified yet another victim: Edward Pettifer, a 31-year-old British national.
“The entire family are devastated at the tragic news of Ed‘s death in New Orleans. He was a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and a friend to so many,” his family said in a statement.
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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.
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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
British man among 14 killed in New Orleans attack
Former Princeton football star and aspiring nurse among named victims of the New Orleans terror attack
A former Princeton football star. An aspiring nurse. A college freshman. A cherished son. A devoted mom.
These are among the victims of the deadly New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans that left at least 14 people dead and dozens injured when a 42-year-old Army veteran plowed a truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street in what the FBI is investigating as an “act of terrorism.”
The FBI identified the suspect — who was killed after engaging in a shootout with police officers — as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S.-born citizen from Texas.
The bureau confirmed investigators discovered an ISIS flag, weapons and a potential improvised explosive device inside the pickup truck the suspect rammed through the crowd.
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Here’s everything we know about the victims of the horrific tragedy that left 14 dead on Bourbon Street
Survivor of New Orleans attack describes chaos
Survivors of Wednesday’s truck attack in New Orleans are still processing what they saw.
“It was hard to tell what was fireworks and what might have been gunshots,” Noah Preston, a 25-year-old student from North Carolina, told The Wall Street Journal of his experience witnessing the attack. “We had no idea what was going on.”
New Orleans attacker planned to use detonator found in truck
New Orleans attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who rammed a truck through a crowd celebrating the new year on Bourbon Street, had another part to his plan which was never completed.
The Texas man intended to use a transmitter, later found in the wreckage of his vehicle, to trigger two improvised explosive devices nearby, investigators announced.
The devices never went off, though authorities are uncertain whether this was due to a decision from Jabbar, a malfunction, or some other reason.
Vet argues recent incidents highlight need for mental health services in military
The recent incidents in New Orleans and Las Vegas, both carried out by U.S. military veterans, highlight the need to give serious attention to the mental health status of servicemembers, according to one veteran.
“A major question that should be asked not just about Jabbar but every veteran who is at risk of radicalization, suicide, homelessness or social isolation is if we should now make it a requirement for veterans to be seen and screened,” Jos Joseph, a Marine veteran, wrote today in The Hill.
Army buddy shocked old friend carried out New Orleans attack
Trevor Neill, a Houston-area Army veteran who knew Shamsud-Din Jabbar in the military, was utterly shocked to learn his old friend had carried out the New Orleans truck attack.
The two men met at Fort Gordon in Georgia but had lost touch in recent years.
“He was a normal individual, no red flags, great soldier, phenomenal friend,” Neill told KHOU 11.
“I was absolutely floored, I buckled and I couldn’t talk for like 20 or 30 seconds, was just like, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” he added. “And it’s very unfortunate that he took that path.”
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