Bomb-making materials found at Texas home of New Orleans attacker, officials say
Source: CBS News
Updated on: January 3, 2025 / 3:05 PM EST
Federal investigators found bomb-making materials while searching the Texas home of the man responsible for the deadly truck attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, law enforcement officials said Friday. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S.-born citizen from Texas, was living in Houston. It's not clear what types of materials the investigators found at the Houston home. They took inventory of the materials and returned the home back to its owner.
Officials say Jabbar drove from Houston to New Orleans in a rented pickup truck and plowed through a crowd of revelers at around 3 a.m. on New Year's Day, killing 14 people and injuring dozens. Officials said he was shot dead by police. The attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
Jabbar had placed two improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, along Bourbon Street, deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterintelligence division, Christopher Raia, said at a briefing Thursday. Raia said the devices were found in coolers, and were active at the time, but were "rendered safe" by law enforcement. A person familiar with the investigation told CBS News that the devices were rudimentary pipe bombs that contained shrapnel including nails, screws and tacks.
Jabbar was wearing body armor at the time of the attack, two sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News. He also had two weapons on him, which law enforcement sources described as an AR-15 style weapon and a handgun.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-orleans-truck-attack-bomb-making-materials-houston-texas/