The man suspected of being behind the car attack that killed 14 people in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve had already visited the American city twice, the FBI revealed this Sunday, January 5.
At a press conference, Lyonel Myrthil, special agent in charge of the New Orleans office, explained that Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas, traveled to New Orleans in October and November. He then used glasses connected to Meta to locate and film the attack scene.
The FBI also again said that the suspect, a former Army human resources and technology employee, appeared to have acted alone. Lyonel Myrthil, quoted by CNN, added that investigators are interested in several trips made by Shamsud-Din Jabbar to Egypt, Canada and the American cities of Tampa and Atlas. The FBI is trying to determine if these trips are related to the New Year’s Eve attack.
Support for Daesh
On the night of January 31, Shamsud-Din Jabbar killed 14 people and injured about 30 more when he drove his truck into a crowd on New Year’s Eve in New Orleans. He died in exchanges of gunfire with police in the ultra-touristy French Quarter of this large Louisiana city.
The suspect proclaimed his support for Daesh in several videos and also claimed to have joined the jihadist organization, the FBI reported Thursday. Shamsud-Din Jabbar served in the Army from 2007 to 2015, including a year in Afghanistan in 2009, and was discharged with the rank of master sergeant, according to the Pentagon. His brother Abdur Jabbar claimed about him in the New York Times that he had converted to Islam at a very young age and that he had surely subsequently experienced “a form of radicalization.”
On Tuesday, five videos were posted on Jabbar’s Facebook account in which he “explains that he initially planned to attack his family and friends, but was concerned that newspaper headlines would not focus on, quote: ‘The war between the faithful and infidels'”. Christopher Raia, a senior FBI official, said at a news conference Thursday.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar also planted two homemade bombs hidden in coolers in the French Quarter. He kept the detonator in his car, Lyonel Myrthil explained on Sunday. They were deactivated.
Source: BFM TV
