FBI now believes New Orleans attacker acted alone as investigation widens

# FBI now believes New Orleans attacker acted alone as investigation widens

The FBI says Shamsud-Din Jabbar is the sole suspect in the New Orleans truck attack, while investigators continue to search for a possible connection to a separate incident in Las Vegas.

The FBI has shifted its assessment of the New Orleans attack on New Year’s Day, saying the man who drove a pickup truck into crowds in the French Quarter is now believed to have acted alone in a “premeditated and evil act.” The update, delivered by Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the bureau’s counterterrorism division, came after days of questions about whether other people helped plan or carry out the assault.

Raia said the latest evidence shows no definitive link between the New Orleans attack and an explosion involving a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. That does not end the inquiry into either incident, he cautioned, but it does mean investigators currently see them as separate cases. The bureau said it has not identified the driver in the Las Vegas blast and has not confirmed that it was terrorism.

The New Orleans attack killed 14 people and left at least 39 others injured. Authorities later clarified that the death toll was 15 including the attacker. The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was shot dead at the scene after driving a rented Ford F-150 into pedestrians and then opening fire. Police found an Islamic State flag inside the vehicle, along with improvised explosive devices nearby. Officials also said surveillance footage showed Jabbar placing devices in coolers along Bourbon Street before the attack.

Investigators have been tracing Jabbar’s movements before the assault. According to the FBI, he rented the truck in Houston on December 30 and drove to New Orleans the following evening. Raia said Jabbar posted several videos to social media hours before the attack, including messages expressing support for Islamic State. The FBI is also examining an Airbnb in New Orleans that investigators believe was connected to the suspect after a fire broke out there.

Officials said more than 400 tips from the public have been received and hundreds of hours of surveillance footage are being reviewed. Police recovered Jabbar’s phones and laptops, which are also being searched. The inquiry has stretched across several states as agents check for possible contacts, travel history, and digital evidence.

The attack happened around 3:15am in the French Quarter, one of the city’s busiest entertainment districts. New Orleans police chief Anne Kirkpatrick said the suspect was trying to run over as many people as he could. The city reopened Bourbon Street before the Sugar Bowl, insisting there was no imminent threat to the public.

The case has also focused attention on the lives of the victims. Officials said the dead included former Princeton football player Martin “Tiger” Bech and Matthew Tenedorio. At least some of the wounded have since been discharged from hospital, though several remain in intensive care.

For now, investigators are treating the New Orleans assault as a lone-actor attack, even as they keep testing whether any other threads emerge from the wider investigation.