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The FBI has confirmed the deadly truck rampage through New Orleans' French Quarter was an "act of terrorism" carried out by a lone attacker with Islamic State sympathies.
The perpetrator, identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, drove a pickup truck into New Year's revellers early Wednesday, killing 15 and injuring approximately 30 others. Hours before the attack, Jabbar had posted videos expressing allegiance to IS and his intention to kill, according to President Joe Biden.
Among the victims was 18-year-old Nikyra Dedeaux, an aspiring nurse from Mississippi, and Reggie Hunter, 37, a father of two from Baton Rouge. Nicole Perez, a single mother recently promoted to manager at a local deli, was also killed.
The attack prompted the postponement of the Sugar Bowl college football playoff, originally scheduled for Wednesday evening at the nearby Superdome. The match between Georgia and Notre Dame has been rescheduled for Thursday afternoon.
In a separate incident, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on the same day, killing an active-duty US Army soldier inside the vehicle. The FBI found "no definitive link" between the two incidents, despite both perpetrators having previously served at Fort Bragg military base.
New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell announced Bourbon Street would reopen ahead of the rescheduled Sugar Bowl. "The city of New Orleans, we're resilient," she said.
Pope Francis sent condolences to Archbishop Gregory Aymond, whilst Italian President Sergio Mattarella expressed solidarity with the American people in their fight against terrorism.
The FBI has recovered an Islamic State banner from the attack vehicle and received over 400 public tips as the investigation continues.
The rampage in New Orleans which took place at 3.15 am local time on Wednesday turned festive Bourbon Street into a horrific scene of maimed victims, bloodied bodies and pedestrians fleeing for safety inside nightclubs and restaurants.
In addition to the dead, dozens of people were hurt. A college football playoff game at the nearby Superdome was postponed until Thursday.
Zion Parsons, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi, said he saw the truck "barreling through, throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air."
"Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering," said Parsons, whose friend Nikyra Dedeaux was among the people killed.
"This is not just an act of terrorism. This is evil," New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said.
The attack is the latest example of a vehicle being used as a weapon to carry out mass violence and the deadliest IS-inspired assault on US soil in years.
The driver "defeated" safety measures in place to protect pedestrians, Kirkpatrick said, and was "hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did."
Investigators found multiple improvised explosives, including two pipe bombs that were concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.
The bulletin, relying on preliminary information gathered soon after the attack, also cited surveillance footage that it said showed three men and a woman placing one of the devices, but federal officials did not immediately confirm that detail and it wasn't clear who they were or what connection they had to the attack, if any.
Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck onto a sidewalk, going around a police car that was positioned to block vehicular traffic, authorities said. A barrier system meant to prevent vehicle attacks was being repaired in preparation for the Super Bowl in February.
He was killed by police after he exited the truck and opened fire on responding officers, Kirkpatrick said. Three officers returned fire. Two were shot and are in stable condition.
Investigators recovered a handgun and AR-style rifle, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
There were also deadly explosions in Honolulu and outside a Las Vegas hotel owned by President-elect Donald Trump. President Biden said the FBI was looking into whether the Las Vegas explosion was connected to the New Orleans attack but had "nothing to report" as of Wednesday evening.
Authorities believe fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel were connected to a detonation system controlled by the driver in the vehicle, CNN reported, citing an official briefed on the investigation.
A photo circulated among law enforcement officials showed a bearded Jabbar wearing camouflage next to the truck after he was killed. The intelligence bulletin obtained by the AP said he was wearing a ballistic vest and helmet. The flag of the Islamic State group was on the truck's trailer hitch, the FBI said.
"For those people who don't believe in objective evil, all you have to do is look at what happened in our city early this morning," U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, said. "If this doesn't trigger the gag reflex of every American, every fair-minded American, I'll be very surprised."
Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.
Hours after the attack, several coroner's office vans were parked on the corner of Bourbon and Canal streets, cordoned off by police tape with crowds of dazed tourists standing around, some trying to navigate their luggage through the labyrinth of blockades.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry urged people to avoid the area, which remained an active crime scene.
"We looked out our front door and saw caution tape and dead silence and it's eerie," said Tessa Cundiff, an Indiana native who moved to the French Quarter a few years ago. "This is not what we fell in love with, it's sad."
Nearby, life went on as normal in the city known to some for a motto that translates to "let the good times roll." At a cafe a block from where the truck came to rest, people crowded in for breakfast as upbeat pop music played. Two blocks away, people drank at a bar, seemingly as if nothing happened.
Biden, speaking from the presidential retreat at Camp David, addressed the victims and the people of New Orleans: "I want you to know I grieve with you. Our nation grieves with you as you mourn and as you heal."
"My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday," Biden said in an earlier 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."
FBI officials have repeatedly warned about an elevated international terrorism threat due to the Israel-Hamas war. In the last year, the agency has disrupted other potential attacks, including in October when it arrested an Afghan man in Oklahoma for an alleged Election Day plot targeting large crowds.
