The FBI says terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar recorded himself in a mirror wearing Meta glasses during a trip to New Orleans in October 2024. Investigators said it was the first of two trips he made to the city before he sped down Bourbon Street in a pickup truck early Jan. 1, 2025, killing 14 people and injured 37 others. (Image from FBI-provided video)
NEW ORLEANS – The FBI has released video — some of it obtained from terrorist Shamsud-Bin Jabbar — that shows him in the French Quarter in the hours before he killed 14 people and injured dozens more, and his view as he rode a bicycle through the historic district exactly two months earlier.
The footage comes from French Quarter surveillance cameras and scenes Jabbar recorded on Meta glasses in October, during what the FBI said was the first of two trips he took to New Orleans before his early New Year’s Day massacre.
Authorities recovered three homemade bombs they said Jabbar placed in small coolers, including two that he’s seen on video placing on Bourbon Street. One of the explosive devices was found in the pickup truck he drove after he sped through a crowd of pedestrians and was killed in a shootout with police.
Also recovered from the truck was what the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms considers a remote detonation device. Jabbar, a 42-year-old IT professional and U.S. Army veteran from Texas, could have used it to set off the bombs had New Orleans police not responded soon enough, ATF Special Agent in Charge Joshua Jackson said during a news conference Sunday.
The FBI compiled all of the footage it shared into a single video that’s nearly four minutes long. The timestamps that follow detail the content of the segments:
0:00 – Jabbar recorded footage on Meta eyeglasses Oct. 31 during his bike ride in the French Quarter and Canal Street. The FBI said Jabbar was wearing Meta glasses early Wednesday, but there is no indication he used them to record or live stream his attack.
1:36 – Jabbar recorded himself wearing Meta glasses looking into a mirror at a home investigators say he rented during his October trip to New Orleans.
1:41 – French Quarter surveillance video recorded at 1:53 a.m. Wednesday shows Jabbar with a blue cooler that investigators said had an improvised bomb inside. The FBI said Jabbar left it at the intersection of Bourbon and St. Peter streets, and it was found a block away at Orleans Street after “multiple unknowing Bourbon Street visitors grabbed the cooler’s handle and moved it.”
2:20 – At approximately 2:20 a.m., surveillance footage shows Jabbar leaving the second explosive device inside a “bucket-style” cooler at Bourbon and Toulouse streets. The video shows him standing next to a trash can receptacle as visitors walk and dance around him.
At one point, Jabbar is seen waving his hand while looking down Bourbon Street, then he walks away from the cooler. Investigators did not address who or what Jabbar might have been waving to or why during Sunday’s news conference.
2:42 – A still image from surveillance video clearly shows Jabbar walking down Governor Nicholls Street. The FBI said he was returning to his truck to pick up the second cooler. The brown long coat he is seen wearing was recovered from the truck at the scene of the deadly attack.
3:00 – Jabbar is seen on surveillance video walking up and down Governor Nicholls Street.
Federal investigators provided an update on their continuing investigation Sunday, saying they still believe Jabbar acted alone. However, they continue to look into trips they say Jabbar took to Egypt and Canada over the summer. He also traveled to the Atlanta and Tampa, Florida, areas.
Lyonel Myrthil, the FBI’s special agent in charge of its New Orleans office, said investigators are trying to determine who Jabbar might have come into contact with during his travels.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell said she has asked the Biden administration to provide an expert who can assess the city’s terrorism vulnerabilities ahead of the Super Bowl, which takes place Feb. 9 at the Superdome, and Mardi Gras.
Carnival season officially begins Monday and culminates on Fat Tuesday, March 4.
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