A US Army veteran who drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s Day revellers had pledged allegiance to the banned militant Islamic State (ISIS) group but acted alone in the attack that killed at least 14 people, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Thursday.
The suspect, who was shot dead at the scene after firing at police, was identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texan who once served in Afghanistan.
He drove from Houston to New Orleans on December 31 and posted five videos on Facebook between 1:29am and 3:02am on the morning of the attack in which he said he supported ISIS, the militant group with fighters in Iraq and Syria, the FBI said.
In the first video, Jabbar explains he had previously planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned that the media coverage would not focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers”, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said at a press conference.
Jabbar also said in the videos that he had joined IS before last summer and provided his last will and testament, Raia said.
“This was an act of terrorism,” Raia said. “It was premeditated and an evil act.”
New Orleans officials said the Sugar Bowl college football game that was scheduled for Wednesday in a New Year’s Day tradition would take place on Thursday afternoon. The city will also host the National Football League’s Super Bowl next month.
The FBI said there appeared to be no link between the attack in New Orleans and the episode in Las Vegas on the same day in which a Tesla Cybertruck packed with gasoline canisters and large firework mortars exploded in flames outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House on January 20.
