New Orleans attack suspect searched for Germany truck-ramming incident hours before carrying out attack: FBI
The man who is suspected of committing the New Years Day vehicle-ramming attack in New Orleans searched online for information about the Christmas market car-ramming attack in Germany, just hours before carrying out his own attack on Bourbon Street, according to the FBI.
In a report released Tuesday, the FBI said a search of Shamsud-Din Jabbar's "electronics" showed that he "conducted many online searches" related to the New Orleans attack "as late as mid-November," including "how to access a balcony on Bourbon Street" and information about Mardi Gras, which occurs in March.
"Just hours before the attack on Bourbon Street, he also searched for information about the car that rammed into innocent victims in a Christmas market in Germany just ten days before," the FBI report said.
On Dec. 21, 2024, a man drove into a crowded German Christmas market, killing five and injuring 200, according to German authorities.
In the early hours of New Years Day, Jabbar, whom the FBI previously said had recorded videos "proclaiming his support for ISIS" and mentioning he had joined the terrorist group earlier in the year, drove a rented truck down Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring 57. He died in a shootout with police while he was reaching to detonate coolers filled with explosives, according to investigators.
"A total of 136 victims have been identified, including two businesses that suffered damages," the FBI's report said, updating the official number of victims.
The FBI report also provided more detail about Jabbar's visits to the city prior to the attack.
"On November 10, 2024, Jabbar took a train from Houston, Texas to New Orleans and returned to Texas that evening on a bus," the report said. "While in the city, Jabbar looked at an apartment for rent on Orleans Street. Just days after his travel he applied to rent the apartment but later told the landlord he changed his mind."
Jabbar at the time lived in Houston, Texas. The FBI on Tuesday also released an image they said is of Jabbar in New Orleans on Nov. 10.
"Thanks to the overwhelming response from the public, the FBI is closer to getting answers for those families who lost loved ones and the other victims of the New Year’s Day attack," the FBI report said.
