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New Orleans killer was lone wolf terror suspect: FBI

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A US Army veteran who drove a pick-up truck into a crowd of New Year’s revellers in New Orleans, killing 14 people, had originally planned to kill his family, says the FBI.

But the terror suspect was concerned about the types of headlines such an attack would generate.

So he changed his plans because he wanted the media coverage to focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers”.

The chilling details were released on Friday (AEDT) as the FBI confirmed it believed that Shamsud-Din Jabbar was a lone wolf terrorist who had acted alone.

Investigators trawled through the terror suspect’s social media posts and devices but did not find evidence of collaborators.

The announcement reverses a statement on Thursday (AEDT) that investigators believed the suspect was not solely responsible.

The FBI also said there appeared to be no link to a Tesla Cybertruck, stuffed with fireworks mortars and camping canisters, that exploded outside Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel.

A man found dead in the Cybertruck had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was identified as army veteran Matthew Livelsberger.

FBI counterterrorism deputy assistant director Christopher Raia said the New Orleans attack was an “act of terrorism”.

“It was premeditated and an evil act,” he said.

Jabbar, 42, a US citizen from Texas who had once served in Afghanistan, was shot dead at the scene after firing at police.

One of his victims was the mother of a four-year-old who had just moved into a new apartment after getting a promotion at work.

Other victims were a New York financial employee and accomplished student-athlete who was visiting home for the holidays, and an 18-year-old aspiring nurse from Mississippi.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar

The FBI named the suspect as Texas man Shamsud-Din Jabbar.

Hours before the attack on New Year’s Day, Jabbar drove from Houston to New Orleans and posted videos to social media saying he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressing a desire to kill.

The videos were posted to Facebook between 1.29am and 3.02am on the morning of the attack on Wednesday (local time).

In the first video, Jabbar explains he had previously planned to harm his family and friends.

CNN said sources revealed he had at first planned to gather his family for a “celebration” with the intention of killing them.

Jabbar also said in the videos that he had joined IS before last summer and provided his last will and testament, Raia said.

The driver steered around a police blockade and slammed into revellers before being shot dead by police as a terrorist act and did not believe he acted alone.

Investigators found guns and what appeared to be an improvised explosive device in the vehicle — which bore the flag of the Islamic State group — along with other explosive devices elsewhere in the city’s famed French Quarter.

President Joe Biden called the attack a “despicable” and “heinous act”.

The rampage turned festive Bourbon Street into a macabre scene of maimed victims, bloodied bodies and pedestrians fleeing for safety inside nightclubs and restaurants.

 

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