New information has been disclosed by federal authorities concerning the fire that the Bourbon Street attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, ignited in a short-term rental before carrying out a deadly rampage that claimed the lives of 14 individuals during a New Year’s Day event in New Orleans.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) revealed that its National Response Team has finalized its inquiry into the property on Mandeville Street that Jabbar had leased. Investigators concluded that Jabbar started a fire at the residence at approximately 12:15 a.m., just four hours prior to the violent incident in the French Quarter.
“Jabbar utilized an open flame (matches) to ignite the fire right before he departed,” as explained by the ATF. “The fire originated in the linen closet adjacent to the washer and dryer. This area is enclosed within the hallway that connects to other rooms of the dwelling.”
The assailant also placed accelerants in other rooms, which the ATF said were meant to “destroy evidence of his crimes.” But the agency noted that the fire eventually died on its own.
The FBI previously said the smoldering of the fire allowed agents to recover evidence from the rental home, including “pre-cursors for bomb-making material and a privately made device suspected of being a silencer for a rifle.”
In its Sunday announcement, the ATF said it discovered that Jabbar bought one of the rifles used in the attack from an individual in Texas on Nov. 19. The seller told the ATF that he did not personally know Jabbar and was unaware of his radical beliefs.
At the rental home, agents also found evidence of RDX, or cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine, which is an explosive. But officials noted that Jabbar made a crucial misstep by selecting explosive material designed to be set off by a detonator, and that using an electric match to set the explosives off instead was a sign of inexperience.
The FBI released photos of surveillance footage that apparently shows Shamsud-Din Jabbar an hour before he drove a truck down Bourbon Street in New Orleans, early on Jan. 1, 2025. (Federal Bureau of Investigation via AP)
“Jabbar used explosive material better suited for a detonator, but he didn’t have access to one, so he used an electric match to set the explosives off,” the agency concluded. “Jabbar’s lack of experience and crude nature of putting the device together is the reason why he used the wrong device to set the explosives off.”
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
