US Army veteran also visited the city twice in months leading up to truck attack, law enforcement officials say.
Authorities in the United States are investigating the potential significance of overseas trips made by the man responsible for driving a truck into New Year’s revellers in New Orleans, law enforcement officials have said.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a US Army veteran who proclaimed his support for ISIL (ISIS) in videos posted online before the attack, visited Egypt and Canada in the summer of 2023, an FBI official said on Sunday.
“Our agents are getting answers as to where he went, whom he met with, how those trips may or may not tie into his actions in our city,” Lyonel Myrthil, special agent in charge of the bureau’s New Orleans field office, told reporters.
Jabbar also made at least two trips to New Orleans, in October and November, officials said.
On his first visit, he rode a bicycle around the city’s French Quarter, where the attack was carried out, while recording the scene with Meta smart glasses, according to police.
Myrthil said Jabbar was wearing the glasses, but did not turn them on, when he carried out the New Year’s Day attack, which killed 14 people and injured 35 others.
FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said that all evidence indicated that Jabbar, a US citizen, had acted alone in carrying out the attack, though investigators were looking into his contacts in and outside the US.
“We have not seen any indications of an accomplice in the United States, but we are still looking into potential associates in the US and outside of our borders,” Raia told reporters.
Jabbar drove a rented pick-up truck around a barrier and sped down the famed Bourbon Street before being shot dead by responding police officers, according to authorities.
US President Joe Biden is set to visit New Orleans with first lady Jill Biden on Monday to pay his respects to the victims of the attack.