Investigators have found materials for alleged bomb-making at the home of the man who plowed a pickup truck into a crowd of New Orleans revelers on New Year's Eve, law enforcement officials told the Associated Press today, BTA reported.
Federal authorities searching Shamsuddin Jabbar's Houston home found a workbench in his garage, as well as hazardous materials believed to have been used to make explosives, law enforcement officials said.
Authorities also found that he had booked the rental of the pickup truck he used to carry out the attack as early as Nov. 14, suggesting he may have been planning the attack for more than six months. weeks.
The attack, carried out early Wednesday morning by Jabar - a former army soldier who hours before the attack posted several videos on Facebook in which he talked about the violence he would carry out and declared his support for the Islamist group "Islamic State" - killed 14 people and injured about 30. The medical examiner's office said the cause of death for all 14 victims was "blunt force injuries."
The 42-year-old attacker was fatally shot in a shootout with police at the scene of the deadly attack on "Bourbon Street" in New Orleans' historic French Quarter.
Authorities also found explosives that had been planted in the neighborhood in an attempt to cause more bloodshed. Law enforcement officials defused two improvised explosive devices hidden in coolers a few blocks from the attack, officials said. Several other devices were declared inoperable.
Investigators found a transmitter in the pickup truck Jabbar rented that was designed to trigger the two bombs, the FBI said in a statement. It also said authorities also found explosive-making materials at the New Orleans home Jabbar rented before the attack. The man tried to set the house on fire by starting a small fire in the hallway and placing flammable materials to speed its spread, the FBI said. The flames were extinguished before firefighters arrived.
Authorities were still investigating Jabbar's motives and how he carried out the attack yesterday. They say he got out of the crashed pickup truck, wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet, and opened fire on police, wounding at least two officers before being fatally shot.
Investigators say the gunman acted alone.
It is the deadliest attack on US soil inspired by the “Islamic State“ in years, Reuters notes.