At least 15 people were killed and dozens injured when a driver rammed a pickup truck into a crowd during New Year’s celebrations on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early Wednesday morning.
Authorities have identified the suspect as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, of Texas who is an Army veteran.
The FBI is investigating the deadly New Orleans attack as an “act of terrorism.”
The FBI will provide an unclassified briefing on the New Orleans attack to the relevant House and Senate oversight committees and the Louisiana delegation tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET, according to a congressional aide.
Here’s what we know, so far, about the attack and suspect:
- The suspect: Multiple officials said Jabbar made a series of video recordings before the deadly attack, where he said he joined ISIS. The recordings appear to have been made while driving at night. Jabbar also served in the US Army from 2007 to 2020, an Army spokesperson said Wednesday. He served as a human resources specialist and information technology specialist on active duty between March 2007 and January 2015, deploying to Afghanistan once from February 2009 to January 2010.
- Surveillance video updates: Federal investigators now believe the three men and one woman seen in the French Quarter in surveillance video were not involved in placing improvised explosive devices in New Orleans, a law enforcement official told CNN. The FBI investigation is ongoing and evolving, and investigators are still trying to determine if other people may have been involved in addition to the suspect who rammed his pickup truck into a crowd.
- Turo was used to rent the pickup truck: Turo said their platform was used to rent the vehicles used in the deadly attack in New Orleans and the vehicle explosion in Las Vegas. Turo is a company that runs an online platform that allows car owners to rent out their vehicles.
- Call out for blood donations: Two Ochsner Health hospitals received people who were injured in the attack. The health system — which bills itself as “the leading nonprofit health provider in the Gulf South” — is asking the public to consider donating blood to support people impacted by the attack.
- Biden: President Joe Biden, in his latest address, said that “no one should jump to conclusions” and added that he is directing top law enforcement officials to continue to “intensively” investigate the deadly attack in the French Quarter in New Orleans.
- Sugar Bowl: The University of Georgia and the University of Notre Dame were set to play in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Wednesday night, though the game will now kick off on Thursday at 4 p.m. ET.
