New Orleans Attacker Had Remote Detonator In Truck For Explosive Devices

President Joe Biden confirmed that the terrorist who drove a car through a crowd of people in New Orleans had a remote detonator for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in his truck.

"They've established that the attacker is the same person who planted the explosives in those ice coolers in two nearby locations in the French Quarter just a few hours before he rammed into the crowd with his vehicle," President Biden said at the White House on Thursday (January 2). "They assessed he had a remote detonator in his vehicle to set off those two ice chests."

The attack occurred early Wednesday when Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Texas, acted alone and was inspired by ISIS, according to the FBI.

The New York Times reported that Jabbar placed explosives in coolers near the scene, but none detonated. He was killed in a gunfight with police after the attack. The FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism and has found no evidence of co-conspirators.

The FBI also noted they found no definitive connection showing Jabbar and Matthew Livelsberger, the man accused of detonating a Tesla Cybertruck outside of Trump Tower in Las Vegas on January 1, coordinated their attacks. The two men used the same rental car company to rent the vehicles used in the attacks. They were also in the Army and may have overlapped at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. However, they did not serve in the same unit, and there was no indication that they knew each other.

Security has been heightened in New Orleans, especially around the Superdome, where the Sugar Bowl was rescheduled following the attack. The game kicked off on Thursday following a moment of silence for the victims.