A lone wolf poses the biggest terror threat to July 4th celebrations in New York and San Francisco, according to an intelligence bulletin obtained by ABC News. We have seen similar warnings in years past, but this one takes on added urgency given recent attacks across the country and the conflicts overseas.

The 200,000 people expected to gather along the San Francisco waterfront for this year’s 4th of July fireworks “provide a broad set of soft targets… for a mass casualty attack,” according to the “Joint Special Event Threat Assessment” from the FBI, Homeland Security, Coast Guard San Francisco, and Northern California Regional Intelligence Center.

Investigators are concerned about the potential for copycat attacks after the truck ramming on Bourbon Street in New Orleans this past New Year’s Day. After mowing down pedestrians, the driver got out and opened fire. Fourteen people, plus the suspect, died. 57 others were injured.

“It sets forth the types of things that intelligence agencies should be looking for,” retired FBI agent Max Noel told the ABC7 I-Team. Knoel is best known for arresting the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski in 1996. He said the public should take this new bulletin seriously: “I think it’s significant because it shows to me the willingness of the federal oversight agencies in communicating with their local law enforcement partners much better than we had done in the past.”

The threat assessment also raises concerns about:

• Ferry system, calling it “a soft target that may be exploited” by terrorists, especially boats that pass beneath the Bay Bridge and Richmond San Rafael Bridge

Lone offenders motivated by world events, such as the man who threw Molotov Cocktails at a small crowd in Boulder, Colorado June 1. They were walking in support of Israeli captives held by Hamas.

Dan Noyes: “Should people change their plans based on this?”
Rich Corriea: “No.”

Rich Correia is a retired commander of the San Francisco police, and he told us, “I think we’re in a more dangerous time. Time to be vigilant. Is it a time where we don’t live our lives the way we would like to? No, I don’t think so. Most folks are not bent on harming anybody. It’s the few, not the many.”

Important to note – investigators say they have no specific threat against the 4th of July event in San Francisco. But, we live in a day and age where you have to decide if you want to attend mass gatherings, knowing the crowd could be a target.