The FBI on Sunday provided its most comprehensive update yet on the events surrounding the Bourbon Street attack in New Orleans, Louisiana, that took the lives of 14 victims on New Year's Day, including a timeline of the suspect's movements on the day.
Why It Matters
Details have dribbled out over the past week as authorities furiously dug into all available leads, including the various trips that the suspect, 42-year-old Texas resident and U.S. Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, took, including a visit to Egypt, before carrying out his attack.
Law enforcement officials said the suspect drove a pickup truck into the unsuspecting crowd, then got out and opened fire before dying in a shootout with police. Authorities later said they found an Islamic State (ISIS) flag in the truck.
What To Know
FBI Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil spoke to reporters on Sunday in New Orleans, laying out a number of new facts as he described Jabbar's movements on New Year's Day. The agency has revealed new information, such as the fact that they believe Jabbar tried to burn down the rental home he was staying in so he could hide evidence of his plot.
The FBI retrieved a semi-automatic pistol and a semi-automatic rifle in the course of the investigation, which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is currently tracing. Officers believe they have made contact with the person who sold Jabbar the weapons, and they cleared the seller of any potential involvement beyond the sale.
"This individual, based on our investigation, does not know Jabbar. This was a chance encounter, and having this private sale transaction in Texas, there's no way this individual knew that Jabar was radicalized or had any sort of awareness that this attack was imminent," Special Agent in Charge Joshua Jackson told reporters.
Jackson added that the sale was legal and suggested that silencers also retrieved were "privately made," though he noted that the Firearms Ammunition Technology Division was still trying to determine if the devices would actually reduce the sound of a firearm to a degree that would classify them as silencers.
Jabbar Visited New Orleans Twice Before Attack
The FBI said the investigation has involved teams in Houston, Atlanta, Tampa, Florida, and international.
"As we go through the timeline, times we provide are approximate," Myrthil warned as he worked through the various trips Jabbar took.
Myrthil said that Jabbar had traveled to Cairo, Egypt, between June 22 and July 3 in 2023, then days later flew to Ontario, Canada, where he remained between July 10 and July 13. He returned to the U.S. immediately after that, and the FBI has continued to try and track his movements following those trips.
The FBI also determined that Jabbar had visited New Orleans two times before his attack. Once between October 30 and November 1, 2024, staying at a rental home in the city and staying in town "at least two days during that time."
He then was in New Orleans on November 10, but the details of that second trip remain nebulous, including the length of the visit and when he first arrived in the city.
Jabbar was then in Texas on December 31 at "multiple gun stores," according to witnesses. He also stopped at a business in Texas "where he purchased the one or one of the ice chests he would later use to hide the IEDs [improvised explosive devices]."
"Jabbar is estimated to have entered Louisiana on December 31, 2024, at approximately 2:30 p.m.," Myrthil said. "He rented a vehicle that was seen again in Gonzales, Louisiana, around 9 p.m. on December 31."
Myrthil added: "By 10 p.m., home camera footage shows Jabbar unloading the white pickup truck in New Orleans outside of the Mandeville Street rental home in the Saint-Roch neighborhood of New Orleans. Just under three hours later, at 12:41 a.m. on New Year's morning, Jabbar parked the truck and walked to Royal and Governor Nichols Street."
Jabbar proceeded to place two coolers, each containing an IED, on Bourbon Street, but teens found one of them. The FBI cleared the teens as possible accomplices, saying they believed anyone who moved the explosives likely did so without realizing what they were doing.
At 3:15 a.m., Jabbar used his truck to commit the attack.
Meta Glasses Used to Planning Attack
During his first visit to New Orleans, Jabbar used Meta Glasses to record the area that he planned to attack.
Myrthil revealed that Jabbar had rented a bike and rode around the French Quarter, which the FBI captured on video including the use of the glasses.
"Meta Glasses appear to look like regular glasses, but they allow a user to record videos and photos hand-free," Myrthil said. "They also allow the user to potentially live stream through their video."
"Jabbar was wearing a pair of metal glasses when he conducted the attack on Bourbon Street, but he did not activate the glasses to live stream his actions that day," Myrthil stressed.
Burning Down the House and Evidence
Myrthil revealed that the FBI had discovered evidence suggesting Jabbar attempted to burn down the rental house where he had stayed just before the attack, likely in an effort to destroy or hide evidence of the IEDs.
A fire was reported at around 5 a.m. on New Year's Day, but it failed to burn anything of significance in the house. Myrthil said that authorities believe "Jabbar was solely responsible for the fire on Mandeville Street."
The FBI determined that the fire had started based on thermostat activity. Jackson explained that the thermostat recorded a rise in temperature just minutes after Jabbar left the home at 12:15 a.m. on the day of the attack.
The thermostat at 12:17 a.m. suddenly switches from heating to cooling. Jackson noted they had examined the data from the duration of Jabbar's stay at the property and saw the thermostat in heating mode, but that roughly two minutes after he left, it changed modes.
"It tried to keep up with the fire that was growing inside," Jackson said. "He used an open flame in the linen closet area next to the washer and dryer and a closed off hallway centered into the residence. This hallway leads into different rooms of the house..."
Jackson continued: "Using this open flame in the linen area, this caused the fire to grow. He also set a half gallon of accelerant gasoline in a plastic gasoline container in that hallway. He also poured accelerant in different rooms throughout the house."
"We believe he did this, and his hope was to burn the entire house down and hide evidence of his crimes," Jackson explained. "As the fire grew in this closed off area, it eventually ran out of oxygen and fuel, and it smothered itself before it spread to the accelerants that were placed in the other rooms."
Neighbors smelled smoke shortly after 5 a.m., leading them to call the fire department who snuffed out what remained of the blaze. The firefighters discovered guns and other materials they reported to the FBI and ATF.
What People Are Saying
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell told reporters: "From day one, we did not waver in regard to making sure again, that our victims were a top priority in addition to their families but also understanding that our victims also include our first responders, our businesses and employees as well. These services will be extended to all, and we do appreciate that from being on the phone at the start of this with the White House, with our President, Joe Biden."
What Happens Next
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit New Orleans on Monday, during which time the president will receive further updates and meet with the families of victims.
The FBI will continue to investigate all leads and make public what information they can, including video and picture evidence of Jabbar in an effort to widen the investigation and get as much information as possible.
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