15 killed as man drives pickup truck into New Orleans crowd

Fifteen people were killed when a man drove a pickup truck displaying an Islamic State flag into a crowd of New Year's revelers early Wednesday on Bourbon Street in New Orleans' famed French Quarter.

Thirty-three people also were injured when Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a US Army veteran whose last-known residence was in Houston, Texas, drove into the crowd before he was shot and killed by police around 3:15 am Central time on Wednesday.

"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," FBI headquarters said in a statement.

Investigators also found guns and pipe bombs, which were hidden inside coolers, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press. The bulletin said that both devices were wired for remote detonation, and a remote control was discovered inside the suspect's truck.

About 30 minutes after the attack, police found a homemade bomb near police cars parked at Orleans and Bourbon streets. The device was a pipe bomb with nails and plastic explosives concealed inside of an ice chest, reported nola.com, a city news website. A second bomb was later found in the 600 block of Bourbon Street.

Jabbar was killed after he left the vehicle and opened fire on officers, police said. Two officers, in addition to the 33 people injured, were shot and were in stable condition, the AP reported. Investigators recovered a handgun and AR-style rifle, according to a law enforcement official.

President Joe Biden said Wednesday evening that the FBI found videos that the driver had posted to social media hours before the attack in which he said he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressed a "desire to kill".

"We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible," Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's New Orleans field office, said at a news conference.

"We are aggressively running down every lead, including of those of his known associates."

There were also deadly explosions in Honolulu, Hawaii, and outside a Las Vegas hotel owned by President-elect Donald Trump. Biden said the FBI is looking into whether the Las Vegas explosion was connected to the New Orleans attack but had "nothing to report" as of Wednesday evening.

One person died and seven others were injured Wednesday when a Tesla Cybertruck that appeared to be carrying fireworks caught fire and exploded outside Trump's Las Vegas hotel, authorities said.

According to a law enforcement official, the truck was rented via the Turo app and appeared to have a load of fireworks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on X that "we have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself."

Jabbar served in the Army as a human resources specialist and information technology specialist from 2007 until 2015. He joined the Army Reserve as an IT specialist until 2020, leaving with the rank of staff sergeant, according to an Army official.

He also deployed to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010. Jabbar had enlisted in the Navy in August 2004 under a delayed-entry program but was discharged a month later, a Navy official told Reuters.

New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno said Jabbar was wearing full military gear in the attack, nola.com reported.

City Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said the driver was "hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did".

"It was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he could," Kirkpatrick said. "We had barriers there. We had officers there, and they still got around. We did indeed have a plan, but the terrorist defeated it."

New Orleans Police Captain LeJon Roberts said officers had a police car placed by an opening the bollard barriers, which were in the process of being replaced for the NFL Super Bowl at the Superdome in the city on Feb 9, The New York Times reported.

"This particular terrorist drove on to the sidewalk, behind the police car to gain access to the 100 block of Bourbon Street," Roberts said.

Tiger Bech, 27, a former Princeton University football player, died in the attack, according to a post on X.com by his brother. Bech, a Louisiana native, had been working as a stock broker in New York City.

"He was just starting a successful career in the business world," Princeton football coach Bob Surace told sports network ESPN. "There were two or three times we had career nights, and you could call him with a day's notice, and he came down and shared his experiences as a young professional with our team."

The Sugar Bowl, a college football playoff game between Notre Dame and Georgia, which had been scheduled for Wednesday evening at the Superdome, was postponed until Thursday afternoon. Many students of both universities are in the city for the game, and at least one was hurt in the attack.

"At this point, we have learned that a University of Georgia student was critically injured in the attack and is receiving medical treatment," university President Jere W. Morehead posted on X.

The family of Ni'Kyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18, in Gulfport, Mississippi, learned on Wednesday that she had been celebrating New Year's Eve in New Orleans with her cousin and was among those killed, The New York Times reported.

"We didn't know she was over there, because I would've discouraged it, especially during times when it's the holidays," said Jennifer Smith, her grandmother.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said he would mobilize a 100-member military police company from the Louisiana National Guard, nola.com reported.

"It is important for our citizens and guests of this state to know that we're doing everything we can to secure their safety and the city," he said.

The pickup truck used in the attack also was rented via Turo, an app that connects drivers with vehicle owners, according to Steve Webb, the company's vice-president of communications.

"We are heartbroken to learn that one of our host's vehicles was involved in this awful incident," Webb said in an email. "We are actively partnering with the FBI."

Around 4 pm Wednesday, a team of FBI agents and Harris County Sheriff's Office deputies descended on a property in Houston that was believed to be Jabbar's residence, according to the Houston Chronicle website.

Police were carrying long guns as a drone flew over the property. One officer on a loudspeaker told someone inside a building on the property to come out with their hands up, the website reported.

Court and property records show Jabbar previously lived in Fresno, Texas — about 20 miles south of Houston — with his wife before they divorced in August 2022, according to nola.com, and they had one child. The Times reported that Jabbar was married twice and had two daughters, ages 15 and 20. He had a real estate license from 2019 to 2023 and worked for the financial services company Deloitte.

Agencies contributed to this story.