New Orleans attack: FBI looking into suspect’s travels as British man among 14 killed

New Orleans attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar had bomb-making materials and a potential homemade rifle silencer in an Airbnb property in New Orleans, according to federal officials.

Jabbar set the short-term rental on fire to conceal his activities, according to the ATF, using “trategically placed accelerants throughout the house in his effort to destroy it and other evidence of his crime.”

However, the fire went out, and the ATF found “pre-cursors for bomb-making material and a privately made device suspected of being a silencer for a rifle,” the agency said in a statement.

The FBI found similar materials at Jabbar’s home in Houston, Texas.

After the deadly New Olreans attack, local officials are trying to pinpoint whether any security gaps contributed to the tragedy on Bourbon Street.

Attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar evaded multiple defenses around the busy pedestrian area.

He managed to drive around a police SUV, over a mechanical traffic-stopping wedge that was not deployed, and past the location where a bollard system previously stood but was removed for repairs.

The bollards went up as part of a $40 million security upgrade in the city after a deadly 2016 terror attack in Nice, France.

“Our plan was for this specific event, this was the event that I was afraid of,” former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu told NOLA.com. “I thought, ‘S***, that’s going to happen on Bourbon Street.’”

Alex Woodward has more on the city’s preparations.

The king has been in touch with the family of Edward Pettifer, 31, who was killed by “blunt force injuries” when a pickup truck rammed into a crowd of New Year’s Eve revellers in Bourbon Street, Louisiana, killing at least 14 and injuring at least 35.

Mr Pettifer, who was named by Metropolitan Police on Saturday morning, is believed to be the stepson of Prince William and Prince Harry’s former nanny, Alexandra Pettifer, who was known as Tiggy.

The 31-year-old’s family described him as a “wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and friend to so many”.

The identities of the 14 innocent victims of the New Orleans terror attack on New Year’s Day are still emerging, as investigators continue to probe the background of attacker as Shamsud-Din Jabbar.

Among the dead were a former Princeton football star, an aspiring nurse, a college freshman, and a devoted mom.

Here is a recap of those who have been identified so far:

The FBI says it has received almost 1,000 tips in 48 hours, as it continues to investigate the tragic incident in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, which left 14 people dead and dozens wounded.

“Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) personnel from across the country continue to work diligently to further this investigation and evaluate evidence, interview victims and witnesses, and analyze tips related to the New Orleans Bourbon Street attack,” the bureau said in a statement on Friday.

“Two days into the investigation, the FBI has received almost 1,000 tips, and leads have been sent to FBI Field Offices across the country for investigation.”

Matthew Livelsberger, the Green Beret who died in the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion, left behind a note describing the incident as a “stunt” to serve as a “wake up call” for the country.

The shocking incident occurred just hours after the deadly terror attack in New Orleans in the early hours of New year’s Day. However, on Friday, investigators ruled out a connection between the two incidents.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran, has been named by authorities as the suspect. He carried an ISIS flag on the vehicle used to mow down pedestrians.

Addressing the nation following the attack, President Joe Biden said Jabbar posted videos to social media “indicating he was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill.”

But how much of a threat does the extremist Islamist militant group pose to Americans today?

Authorities removed the remaining bodies and swept blood from the sidewalks and streets beginning at 2 a.m. Thursday. Deliveries to the street’s bars and restaurants resumed a few hours later.

Several blocks of Bourbon and surrounding streets had been blocked off, businesses were closed and residents living in the footprint of an active crime scene were navigating police tape and barricades after a driver plowed a pickup truck into a crowd shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Thousands of workers — still checking on the safety of friends and colleagues — are now returning to the bars, restaurants, music venues, hotels, gift shops and other businesses that keep the city’s tourism economy running.

U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies are reportedly concerned about copycat vehicle-ramming attacks following the attack in New Orleans.

The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center “are concerned about possible copycat or retaliatory attacks,” according to a bulletin seen by Reuters.

Such attacks “are likely to remain attractive for aspiring assailants given vehicles’ ease of acquisition and the low skill threshold necessary to conduct an attack”, the bulletin said.

The bulletin was issued a day after the FBI said the attacker Shamsud-Din JabbarJabbar was “100 percent inspired” by ISIS. 14 innocent people were killed in the attack and dozens more were injured.

A British man has been confirmed as one of those killed in a deadly New Year’s Day vehicle attack in New Orleans.

Metropolitan Police confirmed they were supporting the family of Edward Pettifer, 31, of Chelsea, who was killed in the attack in Bourbon Street.

Authorities have confirmed at least 14 people died and least 39 others were injured when a man in a pick-up truck plowed through crowds before he was gunned down by police.

Pettifer’s family said in a statement: “The entire family are devastated at the tragic news of Ed‘s death in New Orleans. He was a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and a friend to so many.