NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana.-
A U.S. Army veteran driving a pickup truck carrying the flag of the Islamic State group went on a rampage at a raucous New Year’s celebration in New Orleans, killing 15 people as he dodged a police blockade and plowed into revelers before being killed. shot by police.
The FBI said it was investigating the attack early Wednesday as a terrorist act and did not believe the driver acted alone. Investigators found weapons and what appeared to be an improvised explosive device in the vehicle, along with other devices in other parts of the city’s famed French Quarter.
President Joe Biden said Wednesday night that the FBI found videos the driver had posted on social media hours before the attack in which he said he had been inspired by the Islamic State group and expressed a desire to kill.
The rampage turned festive Bourbon Street into a macabre chaos of mutilated victims, bloodied bodies and pedestrians fleeing for safety inside nightclubs and restaurants. In addition to the dead, dozens of people were injured. A college football playoff game at the nearby Superdome was postponed until Thursday.
Zion Parsons, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi, said he saw the truck “going through, throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air.”
“Bodies, bodies all over the street, everyone screaming and screaming,” said Parsons, whose friend Nikyra Dedeaux was among those killed.
“This is not just an act of terrorism. This is evil,” said New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick.
The driver “overrode” safety measures in place to protect pedestrians, Kirkpatrick said, and was “bent on creating the carnage and damage he caused.”
The FBI identified the driver as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas, and said it was working to determine any possible associations with terrorist organizations.
“We do not believe Jabbar is solely responsible,” FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan said at a news conference.
Investigators found multiple improvised explosives, including two pipe bombs that were hidden inside refrigerators and wired for remote detonation, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.
The bulletin, based on preliminary information gathered shortly after the attack, also cited surveillance footage showing three men and a woman placing one of the devices, but federal officials did not immediately confirm that detail and it was not clear who they were. or what connection they had to the attack, if any.
Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck onto a sidewalk, avoiding a police car that was positioned to block vehicle traffic, authorities said. A barrier system intended to prevent vehicle attacks was being repaired in preparation for the Super Bowl in February.
Jabbar was killed by police after getting out of the truck and opening fire on responding officers, Kirkpatrick said. Three officers returned fire. Two of them were shot and are in stable condition.
Investigators recovered a handgun and an AR-style rifle, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
There were also deadly explosions in Honolulu and outside a Las Vegas hotel owned by President-elect Donald Trump. Biden said the FBI was investigating whether the Las Vegas explosion was related to the New Orleans attack but had “nothing to report” as of Wednesday night.
A photograph circulated among law enforcement officials showed a bearded Jabbar dressed in camouflage standing next to the truck after his death. The intelligence bulletin obtained by the AP said he was wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet. The Islamic State group’s flag was on the truck’s trailer hitch, the FBI said.
“For those people who don’t believe in objective evil, all you have to do is look at what happened in our city early this morning,” said U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana. “If this doesn’t trigger the gag reflex of every American, every impartial American, I will be very surprised.”
Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, served on active duty in human resources and information technology and was deployed to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of master sergeant.
Hours after the attack, several coroner’s office vans were parked at the corner of Bourbon and Canal streets, cordoned off by police tape with crowds of stunned tourists, some trying to navigate their luggage through the maze of blockades.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry urged people to avoid the area, which remained an active crime scene.
“We looked out the front door and saw caution tape and dead silence, and it’s eerie,” said Tessa Cundiff, an Indiana native who moved to the French Quarter a few years ago. “This is not what we fell in love with, it’s sad.”
Nearby, life was going on as normal in the city known to some for a motto that translates to “let the good times roll.” At a cafe a block from where the truck stopped, people gathered for breakfast while upbeat pop music played. Two blocks away, people were drinking in a bar, as if nothing had happened.
Biden, speaking from the presidential retreat at Camp David, called the attack a “despicable act” and “heinous.” Addressing the victims and the people of New Orleans, he said: “I want you to know that I grieve with you. Our nation grieves with you as you mourn and heal.”
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday,” Biden said in an earlier written statement. “There is no justification for violence of any kind and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”
The attack is the latest example of using a vehicle as a weapon to carry out mass violence and the deadliest IS-inspired assault on US soil in years.
FBI officials have repeatedly warned of an elevated threat of international terrorism due to the war between Israel and Hamas. In the past year, the agency has thwarted other potential attacks, including in October, when it arrested an Afghan man in Oklahoma for an alleged Election Day plot targeting large crowds.
Tucker reported from Washington, DC and Mustian reported from Black Mountain, North Carolina. Associated Press reporters Stephen Smith, Chevel Johnson and Brett Martel in New Orleans; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Alanna Durkin Richer and Zeke Miller in Washington, DC; and Darlene Superville in New Castle, Delaware; Colleen Long in West Palm Beach, Florida; and Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.
