A man intentionally drove a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans' French Quarter early on New Year's Day, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens of others, officials said. A black ISIS flag was flying from the truck's rear bumper, and the attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said, CBS reports.
The man driving the vehicle has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas, the FBI said.
In televised remarks Wednesday evening, President Biden said the FBI has determined that just hours before the attack, Jabbar "posted videos to social media indicating that he was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill."
The vehicle was an electric Ford pickup truck that appears to have been rented, the FBI said. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said on social media Jabbar rented the truck on Dec. 30, while living in the Houston area, before heading to New Orleans.
FBI special agent Alethea Duncan said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that investigators "do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible" for the attack, and the FBI believes he may have had help carrying it out. Duncan said the FBI is looking at a "range of suspects" and does "not want to rule anything out" at this stage of the investigation. The FBI is also working to determine his potential affiliations or associations with terrorist associations.
