NEW ORLEANS − The New Year's Day truck attack that killed 14 people and wounded dozens of others appears to have been the act of a lone wolf and unrelated to a truck blast in Las Vegas, authorities said Thursday.
The driver in the attack here, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was fatally shot by police at the scene. Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, said Thursday that law enforcement officials were following up on more than 400 tips in the case. Raia said the preliminary investigation indicated Jabbar acted alone, although a day earlier FBI Special Agent Alethea Duncan had said authorities did not believe Jabbar was "solely responsible."
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Smart Lifestyle Trends Jabbar, Raia said, posted videos on social media in the hours before the attack saying he had joined the Islamic terrorist group ISIS last year. The videos indicated Jabbar, who lived in Houston, had initially planned on harming family and friends but instead decided on an attack that would focus news coverage on the "war between the believers and the disbelievers," Raia said.
"This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act," said Raia, who described Jabbar as "100% inspired by ISIS."
At a White House news briefing with reporters Thursday, President Joe Biden said Jabbar had a remote detonator in his truck that was supposed to set off the explosive devices the suspect placed in two ice coolers on Bourbon Street. They didn't go off.
Authorities also are investigating a possible act of terror in Las Vegas after a Tesla Cybertruck parked just outside the Trump International Hotel exploded Wednesday, injuring several bystanders. Spencer Evans, the FBI's special agent in charge, told reporters a connection to a terrorist organization has not been found. Las Vegas officials said the person in the vehicle, a Green Beret on active duty named Matthew Livelsberger, died by suicide from a gunshot in the mouth before the explosion, adding that the truck's design limited the damage.