FBI says suspect in New Orleans acted alone in ‘act of terrorism’ – live
FBI now ‘confident’ that suspect acted alone in New Orleans
An FBI official addressing media on Thursday said law enforcement is “confident” the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, acted alone – a reversal since yesterday, when officials said they were looking into the possibility that the suspect, Jabbar, had coordinated with others.
“It’s really premature and you’re putting us on some speculative grounds,” Louisiana governor Jeff Landry told reporters who asked questions about the investigation. “I personally – I don’t like to give specifics because I don’t like to tell the enemy what we’ve got, but I can tell you we’re in better shape than we were before.”
Key events
Ramon Antonio Vargas
Former NFL player Antonio Brown has organized a verified GoFundMe for the families of the New Orleans attack victims.
It’s notable given he won a Super Bowl with one of the New Orleans Saints’ archrivals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in 2021 during what was the final season for their longtime legendary quarterback, Drew Brees.
Officials have yet to release a list of names of the victims who were killed in the New Orleans attack that left at least 14 dead after a suspect drove a truck into a Bourbon Street crowd early on New Years day.
But the families of some victims have spoken out, including relatives of Matthew Tenedorio, a Superdome worker who died in the attack. “He was just a joyful person,” Tenedorio’s cousin told Nola.com, describing the family as in shock.
During the press conference, officials said at least 14 people had been killed in the attack, and 35 were injured. Previous estimates placed the number of dead at 15.
FBI now ‘confident’ that suspect acted alone in New Orleans
An FBI official addressing media on Thursday said law enforcement is “confident” the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, acted alone – a reversal since yesterday, when officials said they were looking into the possibility that the suspect, Jabbar, had coordinated with others.
“It’s really premature and you’re putting us on some speculative grounds,” Louisiana governor Jeff Landry told reporters who asked questions about the investigation. “I personally – I don’t like to give specifics because I don’t like to tell the enemy what we’ve got, but I can tell you we’re in better shape than we were before.”
The suspect “was 100% inspired by ISIS”, said FBI counter-terrorism official Christopher Raia, who added that the agency was investigating the suspect’s apparent interest in the Islamic State.
New Orleans’ mayor, LaToya Cantrell, told reporters that the FBI had cleared Bourbon Street, and said that the victims of the attack had been identified and their families notified. She said that Bourbon Street had been cleaned early Thursday morning. “The confidence is there to reopen Bourbon Street” prior to the Sugar Bowl, an annual college football game that will be held in New Orleans on Thursday afternoon, Cantrell said.
FBI says ‘no definitive link’ between New Orleans attack and Las Vegas incident
“At this point there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas,” said Raia, adding that the investigation was in its earliest stages.
During the press conference, Raia said the suspect declared his affiliation with the Islamic State on social media. He said that surveillance footage showed the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, placing two explosive devices at the scene. Raia confirmed that Jabbar had served in the US military and urged “anyone who was in the French Quarter on New Year’s Eve or early on New Year’s Day” to come forward as a witness.
FBI official says suspect expressed support for Islamic State before ‘premeditated’ attack
“This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act,” Christopher Raia, an FBI official, told reporters during a press conference this morning. Raia said that video footage recorded by the suspect suggested the suspect had expressed support forthe Islamic State and drove from Texas to Louisiana on 31 December to carry out an attack on Bourbon Street.
The Associated Press reports that law enforcement officials have identified the deceased driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas yesterday as Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty US army member, who spent time at the North Carolina base formerly known as Fort Bragg. The base is home to army special forces command.
Authorities don’t believe other suspects in vicinity of New Orleans attack – report
The FBI and New Orleans law enforcement believe there were no additional suspects in the vicinity of the Bourbon Street attack, although officials continue to explore whether the suspect was in contact with other individuals remotely, ABC reports. Surveillance footage reportedly suggests the explosive devices found in the area were planted by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect accused of driving his car into a crowd of New Years revelers and killing 15 people.
Citing US officials, CNN reports that the person “connected to the rental” of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in front of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas “is is an active-duty Special Forces operations sergeant, who was on leave from Germany where he was serving with 10th SFG.”
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On his social media platform, Truth Social, Donald Trump continued to attempt to draw a connection between immigration and the New Orleans attack, despite the fact that the man identified as a suspect in the attack was a US citizen from Texas.
“With the Biden ‘Open Border’s Policy’ I said, many times during Rallies, and elsewhere, that Radical Islamic Terrorism, and other forms of violent crime, will become so bad in America that it will become hard to even imagine or believe. That time has come, only worse than ever imagined,” Trump wrote.
