FBI reveals new info on New Orleans terrorist attacker's past trips to New Orleans, Egypt and Canada

In a press conference on Sunday, the FBI provided new information regarding the alleged terrorist who plowed through the French Quarter in New Orleans just hours after the start of the new year in a rented Ford pick-up, killing 14 and injuring dozens more. 

Among the new bits of information were that the perpetrator of the terrorist act, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas who had served in the Army, had made at least two previous trips to New Orleans, in October and November, and in 2023 had traveled to Egypt and Canada, according to CBS News. 

The FBI shared video footage that Jabbar recorded using Meta glasses on one of his trips to New Orleans, while riding through the French Quarter on a bicycle.  

Lyonel Myrthil, the special agent in charge of FBI New Orleans, said Jabbar was wearing those glasses again when he drove into the crowd on Bourbon Street, but that he did not have the recording feature turned on at that time. 

Federal agents are still saying that it appears that Jabbar acted alone, without accomplices, and that ISIS has not claimed responsibility for the attack. Jabbar had an ISIS flag flying from the truck at the time of the attack. 

"Our agents are getting answers as to where he went, who he met with and how those trips may or may not tie into his actions here in our city of New Orleans," Myrthil told reporters.

Jabbar bought ice chests in Texas on Dec. 31, 2024, to hide improvised explosive devices (IEDs) before driving into Louisiana and going to a home that he rented, officials said, according to Fox News. 

In the early morning of Jan. 1, 2025, Jabbar placed IEDs at two locations. The FBI released video that shows him placing one of the chests at Bourbon and Saint Peter Street and a second at Bourbon and Toulouse Streets. He failed, according to officials, in his attempt to detonate the devices during his attack.

"He didn't have access to a detonator, so he used an electric match in its place to try to set off the explosive material," said Joshua Jackson, ATF Special Agent in Charge of the New Orleans Field Division. "It's not novel. What was different is he didn't use the right or the correct, device to set it off. And that is just indicative of his inexperience and lack of understanding of how that material might be set off."