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Federal investigators believe a US Army veteran who drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans’ French Quarter prepared the IED explosives at a nearby rental property.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a US citizen born and raised in Texas drove an electric vehicle from Houston to Louisiana to carry out the deadly attack which killed 15 and left at least 35 injured.
Investigators are probing the theory he rented a nearby property on Airbnb in St. Roch for his base before carrying out the attack.
Exclusive DailyMail.com photographs show the moment the FBI removed bomb-making materials from the two-bedroom and two-bathroom property close to the French Quarter.
A total containment vessel was seen being taken away from the property at around 8pm on New Years Day, hours after authorities had evacuated residents from the area.
The area is mostly rentals available to tourists travelling to the area for the holiday period, who have now been left without a place to stay.
Authorities told one couple ‘not to count’ on being allowed back into the properties, blocking off a three-street radius.
The FBI were joined by special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Homeland Security.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a US citizen born and raised in Texas drove an electric vehicle into a crowd of revelers in New Orleans’ French Quarter
Investigators are probing the theory he rented a nearby property on Airbnb in St. Roch for his base before carrying out the attack
A total containment vessel was seen being taken away from the property at around 8pm on New Years Day, hours after authorities had evacuated residents from the area
A spokeswoman for the ATF confirmed that they were involved in assisting the investigation, but were unable to comment further when contacted by DailyMail.com.
Officials were called to the property after firefighters put out a fire at the rental in the early hours, with sources claiming ‘bomb making materials’ were found.
State Attorney General Liz Murrill told NBC News: ‘We know that these individuals had rented the house were using it for that purpose.’
The two-bed two-bathroom property was revamped by real estate developer Oliver Doxater at Wysteria Properties.
Sources believe that Jabbar could have rented the property out on Airbnb or another rental service before the deadly attack.
Authorities told one couple ‘not to count’ on being allowed back into the properties, blocking off a three-street radiusÂ
Jabbar was killed by police after he slammed a truck into pedestrians celebrating the New Year, exited the vehicle, and started firing.
The vehicle, which was hired by Jabbar on car-rental app Turo, was reportedly carrying an ISIS flag and a chest with explosives inside it.
Suspect Jabbar is said to have made a series of videos that is being reviewed by law enforcement.
Multiple officials told CNN that the recordings appear to have been made while driving at night and the suspect is not visible in them.
Authorities believe that the videos were made as he drove from Texas to Louisiana, although the timing is unclear.
The driver who plowed into pedestrians celebrating the New Year in New Orleans killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens is dead following a shootout with police
Suspect Jabbar is said to have made a series of videos that is being reviewed by law enforcement.
CNN report that the recordings make reference to his divorce and that he planned on gathering his family together for a fake celebration so he could kill them.
The suspect is also said to have talked about how he joined ISIS, and spoke of dreams that he had about joining the terrorist group.
His brother told The New York Times that his brother was a caring man. Abdur Jabbar, 24, of Beaumont, Texas, told the outlet: ‘[He was] a sweetheart really, a nice guy, a friend, really smart, caring.’
He said that his brother had converted to Islam at a young age, and that ‘what he did does not represent Islam. This is more some type of radicalization, not religion’.
