The terrorist who killed at least 14 people and injured dozens more in a New Orleans attack is now believed to have acted alone, according to federal authorities, marking a reversal in official opinion that claimed the Army veteran-turned-extremist was aided in his New Year’s Day rampage.
The FBI said Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, planted at least three improvised explosive devices around Bourbon Street a few hours before he rammed dozens of revelers along the party strip and was shot dead by police. The agency previously suggested Jabbar had help stashing the devices.
Officials said the misleading information was a product of the newness of the investigation and the rapid intake of leads and information that weren’t vetted.
“Unfortunately, as we’re being transparent, there is some information that we have to go back and re-correct,” Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, said during a Thursday press conference. “We’ve had 24 hours now to go through media, to go through phones, to interview people, to analyze those videos, analyze other databases, and after all of that … we’re confident, at this point, that there are no accomplices.”
During a press event Wednesday, the FBI’s New Orleans field office suggested multiple people helped carry out the attack on Bourbon Street.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill also told news networks on Thursday, before the afternoon briefing, that there was “good reason to believe” Jabbar had help.
But the three men and one woman who were singled out as possible coconspirators were cleared by authorities late Wednesday. Mr. Raia from the FBI said those people turned out to be Bourbon Street patrons, not the terrorist’s allies.
The mishap comes as the FBI was slow to call the carnage a terror attack, despite Jabbar having an ISIS flag flying from the rear of his pickup truck.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell beat the agency to the punch in her first public address early Wednesday when she called it a terrorist attack.
Ms. Murrill, the Louisiana AG, said separately that the special agent in charge of the New Orleans field office was out of the country when Jabbar launched his attack.
Mr. Raia made clear Thursday that Jabbar’s rampage was “an act of terrorism. It was evil and premeditated.”
Federal authorities said Jabbar uploaded multiple videos to his Facebook page about his ISIS allegiance and plans to harm friends and family while he drove from Houston to New Orleans on Dec. 31.
Mr. Raia said Jabbar, a Texas native who spent nearly eight years in the Army, expressed concern in the videos that news headlines about the attack “would not focus on the ’war between the believers and the disbeliever.’”
Jabbar said he joined the Islamic terror group before last summer, according to the FBI.
Authorities said he planted the explosive devices in coolers where the revelers were sometime after midnight, then returned to the scene at about 3:15 a.m. in the pickup truck he used for the most violent part of his frenzy.
Jabbar exited the truck before dying in the shootout. Two officers were wounded in the exchange, but are expected to survive.
Police found an improvised explosive device inside the rental truck Jabbar drove to the scene.
Mr. Raia said the FBI is still reviewing three phones and two laptops linked to Jabbar, as well as his digital footprint.
The FBI agent also said there is “no definitive link” between Jabbar’s attack and the Cybertruck explosion outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas hours later.
Local police identified the Cybertruck driver as 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty Army soldier who died in the explosion. Seven other bystanders were injured in the incident.
Livelsberger and Jabbar were both stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, during their careers but not at the same time.
Jabbar worked in Human Resources and IT, while Livelsberger was a Special Operations soldier.
Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Matthew Livelsberger’s name.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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