The FBI is actively investigating whether the terrorist responsible for the deadly attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early Wednesday morning has ties to the ISIS terrorist group. The incident, which claimed the lives of at least 15 New Year’s revelers and left dozens more injured, ended when the suspect was fatally shot in a firefight with police.

Authorities have identified the attacker as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, a Texas native and former U.S. Army soldier. Jabbar, who was dressed in camouflage, full-body armor, and sporting a beard, opened fire on crowds before engaging in a shootout with police, wounding two officers in the process.

Jabbar was carrying with him a Glock gun and a .308 rifle that had been reported stolen in New Jersey, according to Fox News, which also reported that four or five others are believed to have been involved in the attack.

In the hours following the attack, four suspicious packages were reportedly discovered and detonated along Bourbon Street as part of an ongoing investigation into improvised explosive devices (IEDs), according to WWL. Meanwhile, WDSU reported that the truck used in the attack was rigged with explosives, though authorities have not confirmed that claim.

Initial reports suggested that the vehicle had crossed into the U.S. from Mexico at Eagle Pass, Texas, two days before the attack. However, Fox News has since retracted that claim. ABC News reports that the pickup truck was rented through the app Turo, further complicating the investigation into how Jabbar orchestrated the attack.

Authorities reportedly recovered an ISIS flag from the suspect, intensifying concerns about potential links to international terrorist networks. Investigators are now examining Jabbar’s background, including his military service and any communication he may have had with extremist organizations.

YWN reported on Monday that an anonymous extremist Telegram channel had called for jihadists to attack New Year’s celebrations in the U.S. and Europe.

President Joe Biden said the FBI is investigating the “horrific incident” as “an act of terrorism” and that he has directed his team to ensure every resource is available as authorities work to “get to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible.”

“My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday,” Biden said in a written statement. “There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”

The FBI released the following statement on Wednesday afternoon:

Today, at approximately 3:15 a.m. CST, an individual drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 10 and injuring dozens of others. After hitting the crowd, he exited the vehicle and fired upon local law enforcement. Law enforcement returned fire, and the subject was pronounced deceased at the scene. Two law enforcement officers were injured and transported to a local hospital.

The subject has been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas. He was driving a Ford pickup truck, which appears to have been rented, and we are working to confirm how the subject came into possession of the vehicle.

An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.

Weapons and a potential IED were located in the subject’s vehicle. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter. The FBI’s special agent bomb technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable, and they will work to render those devices safe.

The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism. We are aggressively running down all leads to identify any possible associates of the subject.

The FBI has set up a digital tip line, and we ask anyone with information or video of the incident to submit them to www.fbi.gov/bourbonstreetattack or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Police have since reportedly obtained surveillance footage showing three men and a woman planting explosives along Bourbon Street ahead of Wednesday morning’s ramming attack. A frantic search for the additional suspects is underway.

Meanwhile, the Superdome in New Orleans, which was set to host a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game between Georgia and Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday night, was on lockdown for security sweeps after Wednesday morning’s terror attack. People with offices in the Superdome — including officials with the Sugar Bowl and Sun Belt Conference — were told not to come into work until further notice. The Sugar Bowl, scheduled to kick off at 7:45 p.m., has since been postponed.

The video below shows the attacker introducing himself as a real estate agent four years ago. His most recent employment appears to have been in 2022 with Deloitte as a cloud data architect and business development manager.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)