Bulletin reportedly warns of Bourbon Street copycat attacks
FBI: New Orleans rampage ‘100%' inspired by ISIS
The Army veteran who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans acted alone, the FBI said Thursday, reversing its position from a day earlier that he likely worked with others in the deadly attack that officials said was inspired by the Islamic State group. The FBI also revealed that the driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an American citizen from Texas, posted five videos on his Facebook account in the hours before the attack in which he proclaimed his support for the militant group and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the famed French Quarter district. Ken Gray, a retired FBI Special Agent, joined LiveNOW from FOX to discuss.
Federal law enforcement agencies are reportedly sounding the alarm about the potential for "copycat or retaliatory attacks" following the New Orleans Bourbon Street truck attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens more.
According to Reuters, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center published an intelligence bulletin Thursday night that said copycat attacks "are likely to remain attractive for aspiring attackers given vehicles' ease of acquisition and the low skill threshold necessary to conduct an attack."
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Officials have said the deadly attack along Bourbon Street was inspired by the Islamic State militant group. The driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was fatally shot in a firefight with police after steering his speeding truck around a barricade and slamming into the crowd. It was the deadliest IS-inspired assault on U.S. soil in years.
The FBI released screenshots from surveillance footage showing Shamsud-Din Jabbar an hour before the truck attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early on Jan. 1, 2025. (Credit: Federal Bureau of Investigation)
As of Thursday, the Islamic State had not claimed responsibility, Reuters reports, but IS supporters celebrated the attack online.
Bourbon Street attack latest
Authorities finished processing the crime scene Thursday morning, removing the last of the bodies. Bourbon Street — famous worldwide for music, open-air drinking and festive vibes — reopened for business by early afternoon.
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The White House said President Joe Biden and the first lady will travel to New Orleans Monday to "grieve with the families and community members impacted by the tragic attack."
Witness details New Orleans terror attack
Zion Parsons lost one of his best friends, 18-year-old Nikyra Dedeaux, in the New Orleans terrorist attack as they were on Bourbon Street the morning of New Year’s Day. Dedeaux, a recent graduate of Harrison Central High School, was in New Orleans to welcome the new year with friends. Parsons recalled the terror from that early morning with LiveNOW from FOX's Josh Breslow.
The FBI continued to hunt for clues about Jabbar but, a day into its investigation, the agency said it was confident he was not aided by anyone else in the attack, which killed an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton University football star, among others.
The FBI said that hours before the attack, Jabbar, a 42-year-old American citizen from Texas, posted five videos on his Facebook account in which he proclaimed his support for the Islamic State group and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the famed French Quarter district.
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The New Orleans attack plans also included the placement of crude bombs in the neighborhood in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage, officials said. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene. Other devices were determined to be nonfunctional.