At 3:16 a.m. on New Year’s Eve, the suspect – in a white pickup truck – drove at high speed into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans’ well-known French Quarter. 15 people were killed and a dozen injured.
The attack was early called an act of terrorism by the city’s mayor. When the FBI took over the investigation from the police, it announced that it was being investigated as a suspected act of terrorism.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who is suspected of the attack, died shortly afterwards in a shootout with police. Explosive devices and an IS flag were found in the car he was driving, and according to the FBI, he must have been inspired by the terrorist organization.
Several visits to New Orleans before the attack
In the hours that followed the attack, the FBI suspected that Shamsud-Din Jabbar might not have acted alone. But on Friday it was announced that he probably acted alone.
This was also the case on Sunday during a press conference, where the FBI gave an update on the investigation. It was then announced that Shamsud-Din Jabbar must have visited New Orleans twice in the autumn of last year before the attack. One visit in October and one visit in November, according to Special Agent Lyonel Myrthil, FBI.
Filmed the area with smart glasses
The stay in October must have lasted at least two days. During that time, he is said to have cycled through the French Quarter and filmed using a pair of smart glasses. Glasses he was also wearing during the attack but which were not activated at the time.
“Jabbar was wearing a pair of Meta glasses when he carried out the attack on Bourbon Street, but he did not activate the glasses to live-stream his actions that day,” Lyonel Myrthil said.
– We now know that Jabbar was here in New Orleans on November 10 as well, but we are still piecing together the details of that trip. As we approach the day of the attack, Jabbar is seen on December 31 at one of several gun shops he visited in Texas.
Investigating his travels
The FBI is also taking a closer look at Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s trip to the Egyptian capital Cairo in the summer of 2023.
– A few days later he flew to Ontario, Canada on July 10th and returned to the United States on July 13th, 2023. Our agents are getting answers to where he went, who he met and how those trips may or may not be connected to his actions here in our city .