Live updates: Probe into terror driver's background continues as French Quarter reopens

Jabbar is believed to have set fire to a residence on Mandeville Street in New Orleans on the same day that he carried out the truck attack that killed 14 people, the FBI and ATF said today.

The New Orleans Fire Department responded to the fire at around 5:18 a.m., after Jabbar had carried out the attack on Bourbon Street and was then killed by police, the agencies said in a joint update about the case.

The small fire was set in a hallway of the Mandeville Street residence and accelerants to help it spread were placed in the home — but the fire burned out before spreading to other rooms, the FBI and ATF said.

The ATF “has determined that Jabbar was the only person who could have had access to the residence when the fire was set,” the two agencies said.

It was an attempt to destroy evidence, the FBI and ATF said, but it did not work.

“The ATF investigation revealed that when the NOFD arrived at the scene, the fire was smoldering, allowing for the recovery of evidence, including pre-cursors for bomb-making material and a privately made device suspected of being a silencer for a rifle,” the statement said.

All but one of the victims of the New Year's Day truck-ramming attack have been identified by the New Orleans coroner's office in a release shared today, including two Louisiana men who had not been previously identified.

Brandon Taylor, 43, of Harvey, and Elliot Wilkinson, 40, of Slidell, were both killed in the attack, according to the coroner's office.

A British citizen was also identified by the coroner's office as a victim, but his full identification is being withheld per the family's request.

A woman whose identity is unknown was announced as the final victim. Efforts to identify her are ongoing, according to the coroner's office.

All 14 victims died from blunt force trauma on Bourbon Street, the coroner's office said.

Seven of the victims lived in Louisiana, two were from Mississippi, one was from Alabama, one was from New York and one was from New Jersey.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry today declared a mourning period for the victims of the truck ramming attack that occurred in the early hours of New Year's Day.

The mourning period will begin Monday and offers each victim an individual day of remembrance, according to a release from the governor's office.

Landry signed an executive order calling for flags over state buildings to be flown at half-staff during the mourning period "to honor and remember each innocent life lost."

"Louisiana will never forget the 14 innocent lives lost and the horrific scenes of January 1. However, Louisiana and her people will never cower in fear. Instead, we will unite and come back stronger in honor of every person who lost their lives that day," Landry said, according to the release.

Federal investigators examining the ISIS-inspired terror attack that killed 14 in New Orleans report that Jabbar used a very rare explosive compound in the two functional IEDs placed prior to the vehicle-ramming attack. Authorities are investigating how Jabbar acquired the knowledge to create this homemade explosive, according to two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter.

Those officials say that the explosive has never been used in a U.S. terror attack or incident, nor in any European terror attack.

A key question for investigators is how Jabbar learned about the compound and how he managed to produce it. It remains unclear why the IEDs failed to detonate. Investigators are exploring whether it was due to a malfunction, a lack of triggering, or another factor entirely. 

The FBI has stated that the investigation remains ongoing and it has not changed its posture that Jabbar acted alone.

Mike Johnson opened his remarks today after being re-elected as House speaker by calling for a moment of silence to honor the victims affected by Wednesday's terrorist attack in his home state of Louisiana.

New Orleans police said that the entire French Quarter, including Bourbon Street, is now fully open to the public and security will be heightened in the wake of the New Year’s Day attack.

“We are increasing our security presence in partnership with other law enforcement agencies. This enhanced safety effort will continue daily, not just during large events,” police said. The statement was issued, in part, in response to NBC News' questions regarding a lack of protections in place. 

Police said the department won’t disclose specific details about operation plans to protect the integrity of security efforts. 

“Rest assured, we continuously evaluate and adjust these plans to keep the community safe,” the statement said. “We ask everyone to stay alert and help us protect our city. If you see something, say something — your vigilance plays a crucial role in keeping our community safe”

Federal investigators returned today to the north Harris County, Texas, home registered to the New Orleans attack driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston reported.

FBI Houston said “law enforcement activity” was being conducted there.

Wayne Jones, 50, a security guard at a bar on Bourbon Street, said the area should have been better secured on New Year’s Eve ahead of the attack.

“I think the city failed us,” he said.

He pointed out that the steel Archer barriers that the city installed on the sidewalks on Bourbon Street the day after the attack would have been useful on the night the street was packed with New Year’s revelers. “Why wasn’t that on the sidewalk?” he asked. “That would have slowed him down,” he added of the attacker. 

Jones and other local workers also questioned the decision to replace the street’s long-malfunctioning security bollards during the winter, which is the busiest time for the French Quarter.  

“It seems worse than poor planning,” said Rory Windhorst, who works at a business on Bourbon Street near the site of the attack. He noted that the city was pouring money into preparing for the Super Bowl in February, and he wondered whether there had been a "gross miscalculation" in how the resources were used.

The city released a statement yesterday saying it “is committed to ensuring the safety and functionality of Bourbon Street” and that the bollard replacement, which is underway, is part of that commitment.

New Orleans officials were urged to fix the faulty security bollard system in the city's French Quarter, home to Bourbon Street, back in November 2019 and were forewarned that a vehicle ramming incident was one of the most likely forms that a terrorist attack there could take.

Interfor International, a corporate intelligence firm, completed the safety assessment report for the French Quarter Management District. An executive summary for that report was published online in 2020, with less detail than the full report, which remained private.

An excerpt of the full report, obtained by NBC News and first reported by The New York Times, said that the city should not only fix the bollard system, but also consider shutting Bourbon Street to vehicular traffic with the exception of midmorning deliveries, as is the practice for Mardi Gras.

“The current bollard system on Bourbon Street does not appear to work,” the report said. “Interfor has received conflicting explanations as to why the existing bollard system is rarely used. Some residents and business owners reported that beads frequently fall into the tracks rendering the devices temporarily inoperable. Others claim there are not enough personnel available to deploy them on the existing schedule.”

Interfor strongly recommended that bollard mobilization be “fixed/improved immediately,” noting that “the two modes of terror attack most likely be used are vehicle ramming and active shooting.”

French Quarter Management District and the city did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report. City officials have defended the security measures on Bourbon Street and described the New Year's attacker as determined to commit violence regardless of protections.

Analysis documents of the New Orleans ISIS-inspired terrorist attack released by several law enforcement agencies, both local and federal, reveal concern over possible copycat plots.

The documents didn’t reveal any new details about Shamsud-Din Jabbar or his attack, but noted it was the second-deadliest attack on U.S. soil tied to a foreign terrorist organization since 9/11, with the worst being the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 in Orlando, Florida.

The documents noted that Jabbar followed the guidance of ISIS-produced publications and that copycat attacks remain a concern due to the low-cost and vulnerable method of attack. 

An NYPD analysis notes that such attacks underscore the need for blocker cars on streets, the use of heavy blocks as barriers and bollards on sidewalks to prevent vehicles from accessing streets populated with pedestrians or parade routes. 

Turo CEO Andre Haddad said the company has not seen any connection between the Las Vegas and New Orleans New Year's Day incidents, and they are focused on supporting those affected.

Both the truck used in the New Orleans ramming attack and the Tesla Cybertruck that was involved in an explosion in Las Vegas were rented on the car-sharing app Turo.

“My first thoughts are for the victims' families. We are really heartbroken for them. This feels so unfair,” Haddad said on CNBC this morning.

The company's investigations found both individuals had clean criminal backgrounds, valid driver's licenses and “there were no red flags.”

“No one would have flagged them as a security risk. So it’s a very challenging situation to deal with,” he said. 

He stressed that the company has a very strong safety record “with a 0.1% serious incident rate only, which I think is industry leading.”

He said there hasn’t been any impact on business. 

“Frankly, I haven’t been looking at our metrics that much. I’ve been very focused on the investigation. Our team has rallied around supporting law enforcement and getting to the bottom of what happened, so but as far as I could tell, superficially, there hasn’t been any noticeable impact.”

BEAUMONT, Texas — Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s high school friends knew him as “Sham” — a good student with a quiet disposition and a bright future. He went on to become a model soldier in the Army, where his work ethic and attitude impressed his commander during a tour in Afghanistan. 

“He was a great soldier, someone who showed discipline and dedication,” the commander, Rich Groen, posted on social media. 

But over the past few years, as Jabbar worked to climb the corporate ladder, his life began to deteriorate. He faced severe money problems and a third divorce. At some point, he fell under the sway of the Islamic State, the terrorist group known as ISIS.

On New Year’s Eve, Jabbar, 42, drove a rented truck from Houston to New Orleans, authorities said, posting videos online along the way in which he professed his support for ISIS. Once he reached Bourbon Street, he planted two improvised explosive devices and then got back into his truck and plowed into revelers, killing 14 before police shot and killed him in a gunbattle. 

Read the full story here.

Louisiana State University women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey became emotional as she addressed reporters last night, saying the Bourbon Street attack is “so close to home.”

“There were kids from our area, Baton Rouge. I can’t quit thinking about it, to be honest. I can’t quit thinking about it. It’s so close to home, it just hits you right smack in the face. And you get emotional because I just cannot imagine those families right now and what they’re having to deal with,” she said. “You just pray. That’s all you can do is just pray, pray, pray that somehow, someway, they can deal with it and continue on with their lives.”

A moment of silence for the lives lost in the New Year’s Day New Orleans attack was held before last night’s game in Arkansas. 

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to New Orleans on Monday, the White House announced today. 

They will grieve with families and community members affected in the New Year’s Day attack on Bourbon Street and meet with officials on the ground. 

The younger brother of the driver in the New Year's Day terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans said he’s shocked by his brother’s actions and there were no red flags he noticed before the attack. 

“Our hearts, prayers and thoughts go out to those families, the victims and those who witnessed it. … It’s a tragedy,” Abdur Rahem Jabbar told NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston. “This wasn’t the man I knew. This wasn’t the father, the son that I knew. And that also this isn’t a representation of Islam or Muslims or the Muslim community.”

“I understand people want answers, but we’re just as puzzled as the rest of the world,” he added.

He said that his brother, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, grew up in Beaumont and was living in Houston. He has three kids and had multiple divorces. He also faced financial burdens.

“Sham believed his Islamic faith taught him that partying in places like New Orleans wasn’t righteous,” Abdur Rahem Jabbar said. “But he never gave any red flags leading up to this.”