BY: JENNIFER SHUTT - JANUARY 2, 2025 12:24 PM
WASHINGTON — Law enforcement agencies in the nation’s capital were closely monitoring security Thursday following a terrorist attack in New Orleans and a vehicle explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
The violent incidents took place just ahead of several high-profile events in Washington, D.C., including the swearing-in of the new Congress on Friday, the certification of the Electoral College vote on Monday, former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral next week and the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
Matthew Young, assistant special agent in charge at the U.S. Secret Service, said in a statement the agency would “adjust our security plans as needed.”
“While we cannot comment on protective means or methods, what we can say is that we will continue to work with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners in assessing the ever-changing threat landscape and will adjust our security plans as needed,” Young said. “Our mission is to provide a safe and secure environment for our protectees, and all individuals involved in these events.”
The Secret Service has already designated Congress’ certification of the Electoral College, Carter’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9 and the inauguration as National Special Security Events, which puts the agency in charge of planning and security logistics.
Those special security events are somewhat common for major political events, like the Republican and Democratic national conventions this summer and for presidential inaugurations.
This is, however, the first year the certification of the Electoral College on Monday will hold that designation after a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol during the last certification.
‘An abundance of caution’
The Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., posted on social media that while “there is no known threat to the District of Columbia, out of an abundance of caution, MPD has heightened its security posture across the city in light of recent events.”
“Whenever an incident occurs in the country, MPD closely monitors the situation, evaluates intelligence and assesses our security posture,” MPD wrote in the statement. “As the nation’s capital, we maintain a heightened level of security at all times to ensure the safety of our residents, businesses and visitors.”
The U.S. Capitol Police did not respond to a request for comment, but closed off several streets near the building on Thursday after someone drove on a sidewalk a few blocks away.
“Before 10 a.m., our officers spotted a car that had been driving along the sidewalk, near Peace Circle, and into the grassy area near Third Street, NW, & Constitution Avenue,” USCP wrote on social media. “Officers took the man into custody. Please continue to avoid the area while we investigate the car.”
The person was later charged with reckless driving after the USCP bomb squad determined there was no explosive device inside the car.
At least 15 people died and 35 were injured in New Orleans early Wednesday after a man drove a truck onto Bourbon Street in what law enforcement has declared a terrorist attack.
Local and federal law enforcement agencies are also investigating the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is a close Trump associate.
Officials say they have not found any link between the two attacks, though they are investigating further.
Last updated 12:08 p.m., Jan. 2, 2025
Jennifer covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include congressional policy, politics and legal challenges with a focus on health care, unemployment, housing and aid to families.
SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
At least 15 dead, 35 injured in New Orleans after truck plows into Bourbon Street crowd
2 police officers wounded in shootout with driver, who was killed; ISIS flag flown from truck
BY: GREG LAROSE - JANUARY 1, 2025 10:03 AM
NEW ORLEANS — The death toll from a suspected terror attack on Bourbon Street was updated to 15 Wednesday afternoon after a pickup truck tore through Bourbon Street where crowds were celebrating the arrival of the New Year in the early hours of the day.
The number of people killed was increased from initial reports of 10 after the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office confirmed additional fatalities with local hospitals.
Another 35 people were injured, some of them critically, according to authorities.
The driver of the truck, who the FBI identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was killed after a shootout with police in which two officers were wounded, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said.
Weapons and a “potential IED,” or improvised explosive device, were founding inside the truck, and an ISIS flag was placed atop a pole on the truck’s trailer hitch, according to the FBI.
The police officers who were shot were taken to University Medical Center and were in stable condition, according to the police chief. She said the same facility is also treating 26 of the injured people, and others have been taken to other local hospitals.
At around 3:15 a.m., the FBI said Jabbar steered what’s believed to be a rental truck around a police barricade at Canal Street meant to keep vehicles off of Bourbon Street and sped into a crowd. The truck sped through nearly three blocks before colliding with a lift vehicle near Conti Street.
“He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said.
Alethea Duncan, the FBI’s assistant special agent in charge for the New Orleans district, said it is believed Jabbar did not act alone, and agents are looking into possible accomplices.
A small fire at a house in the St. Roch neighborhood, about 2 miles away from the French Quarter, is being investigated in connection with the terror attack, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told WDSU-TV.
Some victims identified
One of the people killed has been identified as 18-year-old Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux of Gulfport, Mississippi, The Times-Picayune reported. She had accompanied her cousin and friend to the French Quarter for New Year’s Eve, her mother said.
KLFY-TV in Lafayette has confirmed that Martin “Tiger” Bech, 28, also died in the terror attack. Bech is a graduate of St. Thomas More Catholic High School who played football at Princeton University. His brother Jack, who played for LSU before transferring to Texas Tech, confirmed his death in an X post.
Reggie Hunter, 37, of Baton Rouge was also among the fatalities, WAFB-TV reported. The father of two made a last-minute decision to travel to the French Quarter with his cousin, who was also struck by the truck and injured.
The Baton Rouge television station also reported that Episcopal High School sent a message to parents Wednesday that said Kareem Badawi, a 2024 graduate, was fatally struck and his classmate, Parker Vidrine, is in critical condition from the attack.
Nicole Perez, 27, of Metairie was also killed. The Times-Picayune reported she was the mother of a 4-year-old son and was recently promoted to a manager at the deli where she worked.
A spokesperson for Archbishop Shaw High School in Marrero confirmed to WVUE-TV that Hubert Gauthreaux, 21, was among those killed in the attack. Gauthreaux graduated from Shaw in 2021 and was remembered as a bright and promising young man, according to the school representative.
Protective bollards weren’t deployed
Steel bollards that can block vehicle access were installed along and near Bourbon Street in 2017 to protect pedestrians, but they were not deployed and are in the process of being replaced according to the city’s Department of Public Works website.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the bollards were being replaced in advance of the Super Bowl, which New Orleans will host Feb. 9. Kirkpatrick said police vehicles were in place at the bollard sites, but Jabbar was able to drive on the sidewalk around those barriers.
The FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism. Bomb squad personnel were seen entering the French Quarter, where the FBI said other “potential” explosive devices were located. Several small booms were heard blocks away, which City Council members said were controlled detonations to clear possible IEDs.
An eight-block stretch of Bourbon Street remains closed to traffic, and some hotels in the French Quarter have been evacuated as a precautionary measure. The public is being asked to avoid a large portion of the historic neighborhood, which typically sees crowds larger than typical weekends for New Year’s Eve.
Hospitality and service industry employees reporting for work Wednesday morning were being turned away from cordoned-off areas.
New Orleans is hosting fans of the University of Georgia and Notre Dame for the Sugar Bowl. The college football playoff quarterfinal was scheduled for Wednesday night at the Superdome, but the game has been postponed until 3 p.m. Thursday.
Landry said he planned to attend the Sugar Bowl, emphasizing the event will be held safely, and he will order flags at state buildings flown at half staff in memory of the lives lost Wednesday morning.
University of Georgia President Jere Morehead confirmed on social media that a student. from the school “was critically injured in the attack and is receiving medical treatment.”
Multiple news sources reported the Superdome was locked down Wednesday morning for a security sweep. The venue will also host Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon in New Orleans, Gov. Jeff Landry said he has signed an executive order to declare an emergency in order to expedite state resources to New Orleans to assist local and federal investigators. A military police company of 100 soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard is also being assigned to New Orleans, the governor said.
Texas authorities respond
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick confirmed that Jabbar “has been living in the Houston area,” the Texas Tribune reported.
In a statement, the FBI’s Houston office said it was “conducting law enforcement activity” with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office near the intersection of Hugh Road and Crescent Peak Drive, the north Houston intersection where Jabbar’s most recent known address was located.
Biden, Trump respond
President Joe Biden addressed the New Orleans terror attack Wednesday evening in a nationwide broadcast from Camp David. He vowed to provide all federal resources necessary to assist in the investigation.
Jabbar posted videos on social media “mere hours before the attack … indicating he had been inspired by ISIS,” Biden said the FBI informed him.
The Bourbon Street incident is not believed to be connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, the president said. A person inside the vehicle was killed and seven people nearby were injured.
Law enforcement officials in Las Vegas have yet to label the explosion a terrorist act but said late Wednesday they have not ruled out a possible link to what occurred in New Orleans. Police there consider it an isolated incident. They have determined the name of the person killed but are not releasing it yet.
The Tesla Cybertruck was rented in Colorado through Turo, the same smartphone app-based platform that was used to rent the pickup truck used in the New Orleans terror attack, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said.
In a Wednesday morning post on his Truth Social platform, President-elect Donald Trump said “criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country …” although authorities would later confirm Jabbar was born in the United States.
“Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department,” he added. “The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”
This article was updated throughout the day with new information.
FBI believes Bourbon Street terrorist acted alone, posted videos before New Orleans attack
BY: GREG LAROSE - JANUARY 2, 2025 1:35 PM
NEW ORLEANS — The man who sped down Bourbon Street early New Year’s Day in a pickup truck, killing at least 14 people and injuring 37 more, is believed to have acted alone in the terror attack, an FBI official said.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old military veteran from Texas, was killed in a shootout with police after barrelling down nearly three blocks of the French Quarter’s main thoroughfare. Two New Orleans police officers were wounded in the exchange.
Christopher Raia, the FBI’s deputy director of counterterrorism, said Jabbar did not have any accomplices, stressing that it is still “early in the investigation.” He also said there is “no definite link” between the New Orleans attack and Wednesday’s explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck in Las Vegas.
An active member of the U.S. Army was killed inside the truck in that incident outside the Trump International Hotel.
Raia joined Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and other officials for a news conference Thursday morning at Benson Tower.
“This was an act of terrorism,” Raia said. “It was premeditated and an evil act.”
The FBI has received more than 400 tips from New Orleans and outside the state in regards to the Bourbon Street incident, and hundreds of hours of surveillance video has been recovered from the French Quarter and other locations, Raia said.
Video footage shows Jabbar placing a homemade bomb at the intersection of Bourbon and Orleans streets and another two blocks away. The improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were placed inside small coolers, and investigators want to speak to anyone who saw them in the French Quarter.
Raia said the video also shows other people noticing the coolers, but they are not suspected of being involved in the terror attack.
The FBI would like to speak to these people and any other witnesses, and investigators plan to explore Jabbar’s life history, Raia said.
“We are looking at everything in his life,” he said.
Two other suspicious items in the French Quarter were determined not to be explosive devices. Raia confirmed bomb-making materials were found at a short-term rental home roughly two miles from where the terror attack occurred. It is believed this was where Raia assembled the devices. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms continue to investigate the house.
ATF Special Agent in Charge Josh Jackson confirmed that a small fire at the rental home in the St. Roch neighborhood ignited after the terror attack and said investigators are still on the scene to gather more evidence.
The Bourbon Street crime scene has been cleared, according to Raia. The New Orleans Police Department will determine when closed portions of the French Quarter will be reopened to the public. The city is hosting thousands of college football fans in town for the Sugar Bowl, which was rescheduled from Wednesday night to 3 p.m. Thursday.
Cleaning crews have swept up the crime scene and trash from other areas of the French Quarter that have been closed off since Wednesday morning. Vehicle access will first be provided to delivery trucks.
Videos detail timeline, background
Jabbar rented the Ford F-150 pickup truck he used in the attack Monday in Houston and drove to New Orleans on New Year’s Eve. From just after 1 a.m. Jan. 1 until just minutes before he turned onto Bourbon Street, Jabbar posted five videos on his Facebook page in which he claimed his support for Islamic State, Raia said.
Police recovered an ISIS flag that was hung from a plastic flagpole on the trailer hitch of Jabbar’s truck. In one of the videos, Jabbar said he “joined” Islamic State before the summer, according to Raia.
“Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers,’” Raia said.
Investigators have also recovered three cellphones and two laptop computers linked to Jabbar.
Raia encouraged anyone with information about Jabbar or the terror attack to use the 1-800-CALL-FBI tip line or share information online at fbi.gov/BourbonStreetattack.
This is a developing story.
Like the SC Daily Gazette, Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.
Greg LaRose has covered news for more than 30 years in Louisiana. Before coming to the Louisiana Illuminator, he was the chief investigative reporter for WDSU-TV in New Orleans. He previously led the government and politics team for The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com, and was editor in chief at New Orleans CityBusiness. Greg's other career stops include Tiger Rag, South Baton Rouge Journal, the Covington News Banner, Louisiana Radio Network and multiple radio stations. Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
