FBI releases timeline of deadly New Orleans truck-ramming attack

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has released further information about the deadly New Year’s Day car-ramming incident in New Orleans, offering a brief timeline of how the suspect executed his attack.

In a news conference on Thursday, Christopher Raia, a deputy assistant director from the FBI’s counterterrorism division, also clarified that only one suspect is currently implicated in the attack: 42-year-old Texas resident Shamsud-Dim Jabbar.

“We do not assess at this point that anyone else is involved in this attack except for Shamsud-Dim Jabbar,” Raia said.

Though he emphasised the investigation was still in its early stages, he added, “We’re confident at this point that there are no accomplices.”

The news briefing took place just over a day after Jabbar allegedly drove a rented Ford F-150 pickup truck into the holiday crowds celebrating on Bourbon Street, a centre for tourism and nightlife in New Orleans.

Fourteen people were killed as the truck circumvented a traffic barricade at Canal Street and travelled nearly two and a half blocks up the busy pedestrian thoroughfare.

The truck crashed near the intersection with Conti Street, and Jabbar allegedly exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officers as he attempted to flee.

He was ultimately killed in the exchange. At least 35 people were injured, including two police officers.

Media reports indicated those killed include a father of two from the city of Baton Rouge, a single mother from the Louisiana town of Metairie, and a football player who attended Princeton University.

A Louisiana state trooper blocks the entrance to Bourbon Street on January 2 [George Walker IV/AP Photo]

A revised timeline

Raia explained that authorities now have a better idea of how Jabbar came to be on Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day, when the attack occurred.

“ Investigators believe Jabbar picked up the rented F-150 in Houston, Texas, on December 30,” Raia said. “He then drove from Houston to New Orleans on the evening of the 31st.”

In the final hours before the attack, Jabbar posted a series of five videos to his Facebook account, “proclaiming his support” for the armed group ISIL (ISIS), according to Raia.

The first video was published at 1:29am local time (07:29 GMT). The last came at 3:02am (09:02 GMT). By around 3:15 (09:15 GMT), the deadly attack was under way.

That footgage indicated to Raia and his colleagues that Jabbar “was 100-percent inspired by ISIS”.

“ In the first video, Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the, quote, war between the believers and nonbelievers,” Raia said.

“Additionally, he stated he had joined ISIS before this summer. He also provided a will and testament.”

A man cleans Toulouse Street, near Bourbon Street, with a power washer on January 2 [George Walker IV/AP Photo]

Ongoing investigation

Authorities emphasised, however, that their investigation into the attack was ongoing.

Evidence technicians continue to comb through the rented pickup truck for evidence. Three phones linked to Jabbar, as well as two laptops, are also being searched.

Raia added that FBI agents received more than 400 tips from the public since the time of the attack. He appealed for further information, particularly about the suspect.

“ Whether you know Jabbar personally, worked with him, served in the military or saw him in New Orleans or Texas, we need to talk to you,” Raia said.

Authorities have revealed that Jabbar was a US-born citizen and military veteran who served in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010.

After leaving the military in 2020, he worked at the consulting firm Deloitte and appears to have done a stint in real estate.

An ISIL flag was ultimately recovered from the back of Jabbar’s rented pickup truck on Wednesday.

Bomb technicians also found two improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, placed in coolers near the site of the car-ramming: one at the intersection of Bourbon and Orleans streets, and another two blocks away.

“Let me be very clear about this point: This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act,” Raia said.

Raia added that reports of other explosives found at the scene either turned out to be misinformation or “not actual functioning devices”.

Bomb-sniffing dogs inspect cars at the Superdome parking garage ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game on January 2 [Butch Dill/AP Photo]

No accomplices

In Thursday’s briefing, Raia also backtracked from an earlier FBI statement that suggested Jabbar did not act alone.

A day prior, Alethea Duncan, the assistant special agent in charge of the New Orleans FBI bureau, told reporters, “We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible.”

But Raia sought to dispel concerns that Jabbar may have had accomplices who have yet to be detained.

“We’ve had 24 hours now to go through media, to go through phones, to interview people, to analyse those videos, analyse other databases,” Raia said.

“ There’s been hundreds and hundreds of leads done just in 24 hours. We’re confident at this point that there is no accomplices.”

He explained that much of the concern stemmed from witnesses who spotted passersby approaching the coolers where the IEDs were later discovered.

“A lot of the early reports came out that there were extra people that were setting the coolers down,” he said.

“It turns out those are just patrons on the street that were looking inside the coolers. We didn’t know that at first.”

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry chimed in to urge public patience with the investigative process.

“ No one does a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle and puts it together in five seconds,” he told reporters.

A member of the military guards the entrance of Dauphine Street in New Orleans’s French Quarter [George Walker IV/AP Photo]

Bourbon Street ‘restored’

State and local officials at Thursday’s news conference also sought to restore public confidence after the deadly attack, which raised questions about safety precautions in New Orleans, a popular tourist destination.

New Orleans had been in the process of replacing its bollards — poles used to impede traffic in pedestrian hotspots — but city authorities have emphasised other barriers were in place where bollards had been removed.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell also revealed that law enforcement officers have cleared the crime scene on Bourbon Street and returned the area to the city’s authority.

That allowed street cleaners to work for nearly six hours overnight to prepare the pedestrian thoroughfare for visitors, including those attending Thursday’s Sugar Bowl, a college football championship game.

The game had been postponed for a day following the car-ramming attack, while its stadium, the Caesars Superdome, underwent an extensive security sweep.

“ Safety continues to be our top priority,” Cantrell said, noting that law enforcement has been deployed throughout the city.

“Because of that, the confidence is there to be re-open Bourbon Street to the public prior to game time today.”

Governor Landry added there was an “unprecedented amount of law enforcement resources” in the city. He has previously stated he plans to attend the Sugar Bowl game.

Tourism is a pillar of the New Orleans economy, and an estimated 43 million visitors pass through Louisiana every year.

In 2023 alone, tourists spent a total of $18.1bn and generated $1.9bn in state and local taxes.

This year, the city is slated to not only host its traditional Mardi Gras parades — a high point on the tourism calendar — but also the Super Bowl, the most watched sporting event in the country.

Cantrell gave a nod to those upcoming events in her remarks on Thursday.

“ I want to reassure the public that the city of New Orleans is not only ready for game day today,” she said. “We’re ready to continue to host large-scale events in our city because we are built to host.”