President Joe Biden disclosed that the individual who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people celebrating New Year’s Day had a remote detonator to trigger explosives in the vicinity.
Further alarming information regarding Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s terrorist scheme emerged following the FBI’s announcement that the perpetrator had declared his loyalty to ISIS several months prior to the assault on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
After a meeting with security authorities, President Biden stated in a press briefing that Jabbar carried out the tragic incident single-handedly.
The president said Jabbar was carrying a remote detonator wired to set off bombs placed near the scene of the attack.
FBI deputy Christopher Raia said surveillance footage captured Jabbar planting improvised explosive devices at the intersection of Bourbon and New Orleans streets and another location two blocks away.
“The IED was inside a cooler, and many people stopped and locked at the cooler and then continued on their way,” Raia said, adding the federal agency now believes Jabbar was solely responsible.
Hours before the attack, the FBI said Jabbar posted five videos on social media where he proclaimed his support for ISIS as he traveled from Houston to New Orleans on the evening of December 31.
In the first video, Jabbar, 42, explained how he initially planned to harm his friends and family but pivoted his attack because he was concerned the news headlines would not focus “on the believers and the disbelievers.”
Jabbar, who Raia stated was 100% inspired by ISIS, said in one of the videos that he had joined the terrorist organization “before the summer.”
Federal investigators said Jabbar left behind a will and testament.
Raia said the FBI is now confident there are no accomplices, and it’s believed Jabbar carried out the attack on his own.
Investigators are still digging into Jabbar’s past and what radicalized the US Army veteran.
Jabbar rented the white Ford F-150 pickup truck in Houston on December 30 before traveling to New Orleans on the evening of the 31st, Raia said.
The suspect recorded the chilling videos between 1 am and 3 am.
BOURBON STREET MASSACRE
Federal agent Raia said Jabbar “specifically picked out” Bourbon Street for the targeted attack, however, a motive behind the act has not been established.
“What I can tell you right now is that he was 100% inspired by ISIS,” Raia said.
“We’re digging more of the social media, more interviews, working with some of our other partners to ascertain more of that connection.”
The harrowing attack occurred at around 3:15 am on January 1 after Jabbar drove around a police security point by jumping a sidewalk on Bourbon Street and plowed through a sea of New Year’s Day celebrations.
At least 14 people died in the carnage, including a 37-year-old father-of-two, an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, and a former Louisiana State University football star.
An additional 35 revelers were injured, the FBI said.
Federal investigators recovered three phones linked to Jabbar, as well as two laptops found at the Mandeville Street AirBnB the suspect was renting.
NO LINK TO LAS VEGAS EXPLOSION
Raia said there is “no definitive link” between the Bourbon Street terrorist attack and the Las Vegas explosion outside the Trump International, which is also being investigated as a terrorist plot.
Surveillance footage captured the dramatic moment a Tesla Cybertruck exploded at the front entrance of one of the president-elect’s lavish hotels in Sin City.
The futuristic truck, rigged with fireworks, gas tanks, and camping fuel in the trunk, was ripped apart by a huge explosion after being detonated by the driver, according to CNN.
The link between the Las Vegas explosion and the Bourbon Street massacre came after investigators said both the Cybertruck and the F-150 were rented through the online rental website Turo.
The person who rented the Cybertruck was identified as US Army veteran Matthew Livelsberger.
At some point, both Livelsberger and domestic terrorist Jabbar were stationed in North Carolina’s Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, at the same time and were also on active deployment in Afghanistan.
However, investigators have not determined whether Livelsberger and Jabbar’s paths ever crossed.
Investigators said Livelsberger rented the Cybertruck in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before traveling to Las Vegas, where he detonated an explosion outside the Trump International on Wednesday morning.
The blast killed Livelsberger, 37, and injured seven others.
