New Orleans attack: Authorities have not ruled out whether the driver behind New Year terror acted alone

Authorities have identified a 42-year-old man who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revellers in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter, killing at least 15 people and injuring 35 more in a suspected act of terrorism.

The driver was killed in a shootout with police after driving a white Ford pickup truck “at a very fast pace” into crowds at the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Street at about 3.15 am on Wednesday.

New Orleans police superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters the driver was “was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did”.

The FBI, which is leading the investigation, said it is treating the incident as an “act of terrorism”.

The agency identified 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a US citizen and army veteran from Texas, as the driver of the vehicle.

Authorities have not ruled out whether Mr Jabbar acted alone — after finding suspected explosive devices elsewhere in the French Quarter — and the FBI is investigating his potential affiliations with terror organisations after finding an unfurled flag of the Islamic State in the truck.

Authorities also found weapons, including a potential explosive device, inside the vehicle which they believe Mr Jabbar rented online.

The truck was registered to a Houston man, according to public records based on the vehicles number plate, CNN reports. The owner said the truck was listed on Turo, a peer-to-peer car sharing website, but did not answer questions about the renter of the truck.

The FBI said it is working to confirm how Jabbar came into possession of the vehicle.

In a YouTube video from 2020 that appears to have been posted by Mr Jabbar, he said he had been born and raised in Beaumont, Texas and had served in the US military for 10 years, the New York Times reports.

He said his military experience also included work as a human resources specialist and an information technology specialist. Pentagon officials have so far not provided any record of his military service.

In the video, Mr Jabbar also spoke positively about his skills in real estate.

Records obtained by the New York Times show that Mr Jabbar was married and divorced twice — first in 2012 and again in 2022.

The FBI was conducting “law enforcement activity” related to the New Orleans attack in a neighbourhood in northern Houston on Wednesday. There is an address associated with the suspect near that area.

Federal agents also attended the home of one of Mr Jabbar’s ex-wives in northern Houston on Wednesday, the NYT reports. Outside, her new husband Dwayne Marsh said the 42-year-old had begun to convert to Islam within the last year.

He said Mr Jabbar had two daughters, a teenager and young adult, who were “a mess” after the attack.

A man who lived in the neighbourhood also the newspaper while he did not know Mr Jabbar he knew he had converted to Islam, and moved into a rental recently. He said Mr Jabbar did not worship at the local mosque.

Criminal records in Texas show that Mr Jabbar had previously been charged with minor infractions — once in 2002 for theft and once in 2005 for driving with an invalid license.

Witnesses have described the incident as “something out of a horror movie”.

Hotels have been evacuated with dozens of people displaced, and the public has been asked to stay away from the area.

Those injured in the attack have been taken to five hospitals across the city. Supt Kirkpatrick told reporters they do not know how many victims are tourists, but “it seems the majority are locals”.

President Joe Biden — who is in Wilmington, Delaware, where he attended a family wedding Tuesday night — has been briefed on the incident.

“The FBI is taking the lead in the investigation and is investigating this incident as an act of terrorism,” Mr Biden said in a statement.

“My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday.

“There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”

President-elect Donald Trump said his incoming administration would help New Orleans as it investigates and recovers from what he called an act of pure evil.

The attack has raised questions about New Orleans’ security precautions ahead of its major events season — including the Super Bowl in February.

The city has been in the process of replacing old security bollards along Bourbon Street with removable stainless steel barriers to open and close the area to vehicles around pedestrian events.

The city website said the bollards would be removed and replaced with temporary asphalt barriers to allow vehicle access during construction. It is not clear whether bollards were in place at the time of the attack, authorities said.

New Orleans Police Department Captain LeJon Roberts told reporters a car was strategically placed over the wedge of the bollards while they were being repaired, but the “terrorist drove on to the sidewalk, behind the police car to gain access to ... Bourbon Street.”

CCTV footage shows the white pickup truck turn right from Canal Street into Bourbon Street, mounting the footpath to get aroud a police vehicle blocking the street.

District Attorney of Orleans Parish Jason Williams told the New York Times the bollards question was “still being looked into”.

“But driving a vehicle into a crowd is not particularly a thing that any law enforcement agency can be prepared for,” he said.

The attack petrified the city hours out from one of the largest annual sporting events: the annual college football Sugar Bowl in the city’s Caesars Superdome. Only hours it was a scene of chaos, the French Quarter saw the Sugar Bowl New Year’s parade pass its historic streets.

Sugar Bowl organisers have decided to postpone this year’s game between Notre Dame and the University of Georgia for 24 hours. The game will be played at 3pm on Thursday (local time).

The University of Georgia has confirmed one of its students was critically injured in the attack.

New Orleans is also set to host the Super Bowl on February 9. The NFL said in a statement it was “deeply saddened” by the attack.

— with New York Times