FBI: 2 IEDs failed to detonate in New Orleans New Year's Day ramming attack

Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The suspect in the New Orleans New Year's Day terrorist attack failed to detonate two improvised explosive devices he had planted along the city's famed French Quarter prior to ramming his truck into a crowd, killing 14 people and injuring many others, the FBI said Sunday.

The suspect, 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran Samsud-Din Jabbar, was shot dead by police after he drove a rented pickup truck through a crowd of New Year's revelers on New Orleans' famed Bourbon Street early Wednesday.

In an update on their investigation, FBI officials told reporters during a Sunday press conference that the IEDs failed to explode due to Jabbar being killed by police before detonating the devices, though it was unclear if they would have exploded as an incorrect detonating mechanism had been used.

The two explosive devices had been concealed in coolers.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil said Jabbar placed the first IED at Bourbon and St. Peter Streets at 1:53 a.m. Wednesday, before a person, unaware of its contents, dragged it a block away to Bourbon and Orleans.

Jabbar placed the second explosive at Bourbon and Toulouse Streets at about 2:20 a.m., Myrthil said.

The FBI on Sunday released surveillance video showing Jabbar leaving the devices by the side of the crowded road.

Preliminary tests indicated that the explosive material in the IEDs was likely R-Salt, which is uncommon in the United States. But Joshua Jackson, special agent in charge of the ATF's New Orleans field division, said Sunday that he expects further tests to show it to be RDX material, which is similar in appearance and chemical makeup to R-Salt but readily available in the United States.

RDX material had been found at Jabbar's Houston residence, where officials believe the IEDs were constructed.

The IEDs were not especially unique, he said, though the explosive material Jabbar used requires a detonator, which is not accessible to a common citizen, meaning the Texas native instead installed a so-called electric match as a substitute.

"He didn't use the right -- the correct -- device to set it off, and that is just indicative of his inexperience and lack of understanding of how that material might be set off," Jackson said.

He explained the IEDs were equipped with receivers and a transmitter was recovered from inside Jabbar's vehicle.

"So, we believe that the transmitter ... would have worked, but for New Orleans PD putting him down before he could get access to that transmitter and set off the devices," Jackson said.

Officials on Sunday also revealed that Jabbar had made at least two previous trips to New Orleans, one in October and the second in November.

Myrthil said Jabbar had stayed at a rental home in New Orleans on Oct. 30, and remained in the city for two days.

Donning Meta glasses, which have a built-in camera for recording and live-streaming purposes, Jabbar documented himself riding a bicycle through the city's French Quarter, Myrthil said, as the FBI released selections of that recording.

Myrthil said information from the public revealed that Jabbar was in New Orleans on Nov. 10, "but we are still piecing together the details of that trip."

He also said Jabbar had been wearing the Meta glasses during the attack, but they had not been activated.

The FBI has also learned that Jabbar had traveled to Cairo, Egypt, from June 22 to July 3, 2023. He then flew to Ontario, Canada, a few days later before returning to the United States on July 13 of that year.

"Our agents are getting answers as to where he went, who he met with and how those trips may or may not tie into his actions here in our city in New Orleans," Myrthil said.

The FBI and other investigative authorities believe that Jabbar, who claimed to have joined the Islamic State terrorist group, was radicalized online.

"All investigative details and evidence that we have now still supports that Jabbar acted alone here in New Orleans. We have not seen any indications of an accomplice in the United States, but we are still looking into potential associates in the U.S. and outside of our borders," Jackson said.