By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Keith Bradsher
Investigators on Thursday said they now believe the U.S. Army veteran who plowed a pickup into New Year’s revelers acted alone, after previously saying they were looking into whether other people might have helped him plant explosives in coolers in the French Quarter.
Based on hundreds of interviews and reviews of the attacker’s calls, social media accounts and electronic devices, “We’re confident, at this point, that there are no accomplices,” Christopher Raia of the FBI’s counterterrorism division said in a news conference.
With no further apparent threat, New Orleans officials said they were moving to reopen Bourbon Street and were confident in the security precautions they had taken for the Sugar Bowl, which was originally set for Wednesday night but rescheduled for this afternoon.
At least 14 people were killed and dozens injured by the attack in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Investigators identified the pickup driver, who was killed in a shootout with police, as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, of Beaumont, Texas.
Here’s what else to know:
— Islamic State inspired: The attacker, who served eight years in the military and deployed to Afghanistan, said in a video posted online that he had joined the Islamic State group, Raia said. He had originally planned to hurt his relatives and friends, but worried about how that would be interpreted by the news media, Raia added. “He was 100% inspired by ISIS,” he said, using an alternative name for the Islamic State group.
— Las Vegas: Investigators have found no link between the New Orleans attack and the explosion of a Tesla truck that killed one person outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Raia said, but cautioned that investigators have not ruled anything out.
— Sugar Bowl: An increased police presence was visible around the Superdome, where more than 80,000 fans are expected to attend a rescheduled game between Notre Dame and Georgia at 4 p.m. Eastern time Thursday. On Bourbon Street on Thursday morning, investigators began allowing street sweepers to clean up the remnants of the attack and prepare for a new influx of people before and after the game.
— The attack: Jabbar drove the rented pickup at a high speed into crowds around 3:15 a.m. before crashing and exchanging fire with three police officers, said Anne Kirkpatrick, the New Orleans Police superintendent. Two officers were injured in the gunfight and were hospitalized, she said.
— Security questions: Officials said security bollards along a section of Bourbon Street had been removed for repairs in preparation for the Super Bowl in February. Patrol cars and barriers had been set up to block access to the street, but the attacker drove around them, Kirkpatrick said.