NEW ORLEANS, La. — The FBI held a press conference Sunday in New Orleans to give the latest updates on the investigation into the Bourbon Street Attack on New Year's Day.
FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said they continue to believe Shamsud Din Jabbar acted alone in the attack, with no indications of an accomplice in the U.S.
They also released videos of Jabbar placing IEDs along Bourbon Street, as well as videos he took of himself plotting the attack.
The investigation has crossed international borders, also heading into other states, including Georgia, Florida and Texas, where evidence has been collected from Jabbar's home in Houston.
Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil with FBI New Orleans also shared the dates of Jabbar's recent travels to Cairo, Egypt and Ontario, Canada, saying they are looking into where Jabbar went during those trips, who he met with and how they may or may not be connected to the incident in New Orleans.
Myrthil also disclosed Jabbar made at least two trips to New Orleans in the months prior to the attack—one in October and the other a month later in November. During the October trip, he stayed in a rental home and rode a bicycle through the French Square while wearing Meta glasses, which were recording. The FBI is asking that anyone who may have seen or interacted with Jabbar at that time to please come forward.
Jabbar was also wearing the glasses during the attack, but they were not live streaming at the time.
In the hours leading up to the attack, Myrthil said Jabbar was seen on December 31 at one of multiple gun stores he visited in Texas. He then stopped at a business in Texas to purchase one of the ice chests he would later use to hide an IED.
Jabbar is estimated to have entered Louisiana at approximately 2:30 p.m. on December 31.
His rental vehicle was seen in Gonzales around 9 p.m., and by 10 p.m., home camera footage show Jabbar unloading the truck outside of the Mandeville Street rental home in New Orleans.
Just after 12:40 a.m. on New Year's, Jabbar walked to Royal and Governor Nichols Streets.
He placed the first in a cooler at Bourbon and St. Peter Streets at 1:53 a.m., and someone on Bourbon Street, who the FBI does not believe to be involved in the attack, dragged the cooler a block to Bourbon and Orleans Streets, where the cooler was found by the FBI after the attacks.
The second IED was placed in a cooler on Bourbon and Toulouse Streets around 2:20 a.m.
The attack then took place at 3:15 a.m.
Shortly after 5 a.m., a fire was reported at the rental home, where explosive devices were found after New Orleans Fire Department entered the home.
Myrthil said they believe Jabbar was solely responsible for the fire, setting it before heading to Bourbon Street.
