Published: 7:55pm, 1 Jan 2025Updated: 7:18am, 2 Jan 2025
A US Army veteran driving a pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group wrought carnage on New Orleans’ raucous New Year’s celebration, killing 15 people as he steered around a police blockade and slammed into revellers before being shot dead by police.
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More than 30 people were injured as Wednesday’s attack turned festive Bourbon Street into macabre mayhem. The FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism and said it does not believe the driver acted alone. An Isis flag was found on the vehicle’s trailer hitch, the FBI said.
Investigators also found guns and pipe bombs, which were concealed within coolers, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by Associated Press. Both devices were wired for remote detonation, and a corresponding remote control was discovered inside the suspect’s truck, the bulletin said.
The attack prompted the postponement of a college football playoff quarter final at the nearby Superdome until Thursday.
The FBI identified the driver as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a US citizen from Texas and said it is working to determine Jabbar’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organisations.
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“What I can tell you is that the person was an army veteran, we believe he was honourably discharged but we are working through this process to figure out all this information,” Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said at a news conference.
