New Orleans attack prompts intense scrutiny, stepped-up security

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NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – The investigation into what motivated a U.S. Army veteran carrying an Islamic State flag on his truck to plow into a crowd of New Year’s revelers intensified on Thursday as authorities beefed up security ahead of the Sugar Bowl football game to be played less than a mile from the scene of Wednesday’s mayhem.

The probe was focused on whether the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas who once served in Afghanistan, had helped in planning the deadly attack on the city, which will also host the NFL Super Bowl next month. At least 15 people were killed in the attack.

FBI officials said they were also looking for any links between the deadly attack and a separate incident on Wednesday 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 Jan. 20.

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The injured victims in the New Orleans attack included two police officers wounded by gunfire from the suspect, taking place a mere three hours into the new year in the historic French Quarter.

Among the victims were the mother of a 4-year-old who had just moved into a new apartment after getting a promotion at work, a New York financial employee and accomplished student-athlete who was visiting home for the holidays, and an 18-year-old aspiring nurse from Mississippi.

Witnesses described a horrifying scene.

“There were people everywhere,” Kimberly Strickland of Mobile, Alabama, said in an interview. “You just heard this squeal and the rev of the engine and this huge loud impact and then the people screaming and debris – just metal – the sound of crunching metal and bodies.”

Meanwhile authorities vowed to continue to search for any evidence that Jabbar had accomplices. The FBI Wednesday said they did not believe he was solely responsible and that they were looking at “a range of suspects” linked to the attack.

Police found weapons and a potential explosive device in the vehicle, while two potential explosive devices were found in the French Quarter and rendered safe, the FBI added.

The FBI along with Louisiana and other U.S. officials will hold a news briefing at 11 a.m. (1600 GMT), according to NBC News. President Biden will also convene his homeland security team in the Situation Room for an update on the investigation at 12:15 p.m. (1715 GMT), the White House said.

One New Year’s Day tradition – the classic college football known as the Sugar Bowl – was rescheduled for Thursday afternoon at Caesars Superdome, less than a mile from Bourbon Street and Canal, where the truck attack unfolded. Kickoff for the game between Notre Dame and Georgia was put off for nearly 24 hours while police swept parts of the city looking for possible explosive devices and converged on neighborhoods in search of clues.

The city will also host the NFL Super Bowl on Feb. 9, an event that will bring tens of thousands of fans to the area.

New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, in television interviews on Thursday, said there would be additional security for both games.

“We think that we can keep this community safe,” she told CBS News’ “CBS Mornings” program. “We’re going to, indeed, harden these targets.”

Meanwhile, authorities in other U.S. cities said they had boosted security, including at Trump Tower and Times Square in New York City, adding that there were no immediate threats.

In Washington, which hosts three major events this month – Congress’ Jan. 6 certification of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s presidential election win, the Jan. 9 state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter and Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration – police also said they had increased their presence.

ISLAMIC STATE FLAG

The FBI said an IS flag was attached to a staff protruding from the trailer hitch of the rented vehicle involved in the New Orleans attack, prompting an investigation into possible links to terrorist organizations.

U.S. President Joe Biden condemned what he called a “despicable” act and said investigators were looking into whether there might be a link to a Tesla truck fire outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas. So far, there was no evidence linking the two events, the president and FBI said.

Public records showed Jabbar worked in real estate in Houston. In a promotional video posted four years ago, Jabbar described himself as born and raised in Beaumont, a city about 80 miles (130 km) east of Houston.

Jabbar was in the regular Army from March 2007 until January 2015 and then in the Army Reserve from January 2015 until July 2020, an Army spokesperson said. He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010 and held the rank of staff sergeant at the end of service.

CNN, citing officials briefed on the investigation, said the suspect recorded videos in which he mentioned dreams about joining ISIS and once contemplated killing his family after a divorce.

IS is a Muslim militant group that once imposed a reign of terror over millions of people in Iraq and Syria until it collapsed following a sustained military campaign by a U.S.-led coalition.

Even as it has been weakened in the field, ISIS has continued to recruit sympathizers online, experts say. (This story has been refiled to restore dropped words in paragraph 1)

(Reporting by Reuters staff; Editing by Frank McGurty and Nick Zieminski)

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