Authorities in New Orleans held another press conference Sunday morning to provide updates regarding the ongoing investigation into the New Year’s Day attack on Bourbon Street.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry spoke first, largely focusing on each of the 14 victims, who he identified by name. Landry noted that he has issued an executive order establishing a separate day of mourning for each of the victims.
FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia also spoke, affirming that protecting the American People from terrorism — be it international, domestic, or state-sponsored — remains the Bureau’s number one priority. He also affirmed that all of the information gathered thus far points to the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, having acted alone and noted the challenges of identifying and disrupting lone wolf attacks.
FBI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil spoke next. Here are the key pieces of information he provided:
- They are following leads in Houston, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Tampa, Florida; and internationally.
- FBI Houston has recovered evidence from Jabbar’s residence and is processing it in the FBI laboratories.
- Interviews are being conducted with hundreds of witnesses.
- Jabbar traveled to Cairo, Egypt, from June 22 to July 3, 2023. A few days later (on July 10), he flew to Ontario, Canada, and returned to the U.S. on July 13, 2023. Looking into where he went, who he met with, and whether those trips tie into this attack.
- Jabbar made at least two trips to New Orleans in the months preceding the attack — one in October and one in November 2024.
- He stayed at a rental home in New Orleans beginning October 30, 2024, and was in town for at least two days, during which time he used Meta glasses to record a video as he rode through the French Quarter on a bicycle. (That video was shared as Myrthil described it.) Myrthil explained that Meta glasses look like regular glasses but allow the user to record videos and photos hands-free, as well as allowing the user to live stream.
- Jabbar was wearing Meta glasses when he conducted the attack but did not activate the glasses to livestream the attack.
- Jabbar was also in New Orleans on November 10, 2024 — they are still piecing together the details of that trip.
- Jabbar was seen on video on December 31, 2024, at one of multiple gun stores he visited in Texas.
- Jabbar then stopped at a business in Texas and purchased one of the ice chests used to hide the IEDs.
- He entered Louisiana on December 31, 2024, at approximately 2:30 p.m.
- He rented a vehicle that was seen again in Gonzales, Louisiana, around 9:00 p.m.
- By 10:00 p.m., home camera footage shows Jabbar unloading the white pickup truck in New Orleans outside of the Mandeville Street rental home.
- At 12:41 a.m., Jabbar parked the truck and walked to Royal and Governor Nicholls Street; he placed the first IED in the cooler at Bourbon and St. Peters Street at 1:53 a.m. Someone then dragged the cooler about a block to Bourbon and Orleans, where it was found after the attack, but they have no reason to believe that person was involved.
- Jabbar placed the second IED in a bucket-type cooler at 2:20 a.m. on Bourbon and Toulouse Streets.
- He is seen wearing a long brown coat in the videos, and it was recovered in the F-150.
- At 3:15 a.m., Jabbar used the pickup truck as a lethal weapon before crashing into the construction equipment and then being stopped by the New Orleans police.
- Shortly after 5:00 a.m., a fire was reported at the rental home on Mandeville Street. The New Orleans Fire Department found explosive devices upon entering the home.
- They believe he was solely responsible for the fire and that he set it before heading to Bourbon Street.
Now We Know Why NOLA Terrorist Tried to Burn Down His Airbnb
Questions Arise After FBI Fails to Secure Home of Bourbon Street Terrorist
Joshua Jackson, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF New Orleans Field Division, addressed further details regarding the fire and explosive devices and the firearms found at the scene, including:
- Jabbar drove to New Orleans from Houston by himself, and throughout his time at the rental home, he was the only one seen coming and going from it.
- He left the home at 12:15 a.m. They know he set the fire before leaving because, at 12:17 a.m., the Nest thermostat converted from heating to cooling. During the entire time of his stay, the weather had been cold and the heat was running inside the residence. It changed shortly after he left because the thermostat indicated that the temperature was rising inside the residence.
- He used an open flame to start the fire in a linen closet area next to the washer and dryer in a closed-off hallway. He also set a half-gallon of accelerant (gasoline) in a plastic container in that hallway and poured accelerant in rooms throughout the house — they believe in an effort to burn the house down and hide evidence of his crimes.
- As the fire grew in the closed-off area, it eventually ran out of oxygen/fuel and smothered itself before spreading to the accelerants placed in the other rooms.
- At 5:18 a.m., neighbors smelled smoke in the air and contacted 911.
- The New Orleans Fire Department responded to the residence, put out the smoldering fire, and observed the bomb-making materials inside the house.
- Firearms involved included a semi-automatic pistol (9 mm) and a semi-automatic rifle (.308 caliber).
- The ATF made contact with an individual who completed a private sale of the rifle on November 19, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. They do not believe the individual knows Jabbar, knew that he was radicalized, or that an attack was imminent — it was a chance encounter and a lawful private sale.
- Additionally, privately made “silencers” were recovered, and these are still being analyzed. One of these “silencers” was on the rifle Jabbar was using in an apparent attempt to muffle the sound of the rifle as he fired it. One was also recovered inside the rental home.
- The explosive material recovered at the Mandeville Street address was field-tested by bomb techs as “ARsault” (sp?), which is similar to RDX (readily available in the U.S.). The same field tests were performed at Jabbar’s residence in Houston and tested as true RDX. The FBI lab will conduct additional tests of the material, which they believe will turn out to be commonly found explosives.
- The detonator on the devices was unique. Jabbar apparently did not have access to a detonator, so he used an “electric match” to set them off. In other words, the devices themselves were not novel; just the device used to detonate them was, which they attribute to his inexperience.
The full press conference may be viewed below:
