New Orleans attack: US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday evening that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found videos that Shamsud-Din Jabbar – a US Army veteran who steered a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year revellers in New Orleans on Wednesday and killed at least 15 people – had posted to social media hours before the attack in which he said he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressed a desire to kill.
The FBI said Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a US citizen from Texas, was driving a Ford F-150 electric pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State. The FBI added that it was working to determine his potential associations with terrorist organisations.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar was killed by police after he exited the truck and opened fire on responding officers, New Orleans Police superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said. Three officers returned fire. Two were shot and are in stable condition.
Joe Biden, describing the attack as “despicable”, said that hours before Shamsud-Din Jabbar had posted videos online “indicating that he was inspired by ISIS”.
The US president, speaking from the presidential retreat at Camp David, addressed the victims and the people of New Orleans and he said, “I want you to know I grieve with you. Our nation grieves with you as you mourn and as you heal.”
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday,” Joe Biden said in a statement.
“There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”
Biden said the FBI was leading the investigation to determine what happened, why it happened and whether there was any continuing threat to public safety.
“Here’s what we know so far. The FBI has reported to me, the killer was an American citizen, born in Texas. He served in the United States Army on active duty for many years. He also served in the Army Reserve until a few years ago. The FBI also reported to me that mere hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media indicating that he was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill. The ISIS flag was found in his vehicle, which he rented to conduct this attack. Possible explosives were found in the vehicle as well, and more explosives were found nearby…The investigation is continuing to be active, and no one should jump to conclusions,” the US president said, giving the status of the initial investigations.
Mayhem on Bourbon Street in New Orlean
The rampage turned festive Bourbon Street into a macabre mayhem of maimed victims, bloodied bodies and pedestrians fleeing for safety inside nightclubs and restaurants. In addition to the dead, dozens of people were hurt. A college football playoff game at the nearby Superdome was postponed until Thursday.
Zion Parsons, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi, told news agency Associated Press that he saw the truck “barreling through, throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air.”
“Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering,” said Parsons, whose friend Nikyra Dedeaux was among the people killed.
‘This is evil’
“This is not just an act of terrorism. This is evil,” New Orleans Police superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said.
The driver “defeated” safety measures in place to protect pedestrians, Kirkpatrick said, and was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did”.
What FBI said
“We do not believe that Jabbar was 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 concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by AP.
The bulletin, relying on preliminary information gathered soon after the attack, also said surveillance footage showed three men and a woman placing one of the devices, but federal officials did not immediately confirm that detail, and it wasn’t clear who they were or what connection they had to the attack, if any.
Investigators recovered a handgun and AR-style rifle, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorised to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Joe Biden on Cybertruck explosion
In the Las Vegas incident, police said a Cybertruck pulled up the entrance of the Trump Las Vegas hotel and that smoke appeared from the vehicle before a large explosion. The driver is dead and there are seven people with minor injuries, according to authorities.
Joe Biden said while law enforcement was investigating any “possible connection with the attack in New Orleans” there was “nothing to report on that score at this time.”
Billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc. and a Donald Trump ally, said the company “confirmed” that the Cybertruck explosion was “caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed” and was “unrelated to the vehicle itself,” in a post on his X platform.
He suggested the two incidents could be linked, saying they appeared “likely to be an act of terrorism.” “Both this Cybertruck and the F-150 suicide bomb in New Orleans were rented from Turo,” he wrote, referencing a car-sharing marketplace that allows hosts to rent out their cars.
(With inputs from AP, Bloomberg, ANI)
