Federal investigators found bomb-making materials while searching the Texas home of the man responsible for the deadly truck attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, law enforcement officials said Friday.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S.-born citizen from Texas, was living in Houston. It’s not clear what types of materials the investigators found at the Houston home. They took inventory of the materials and returned the home back to its owner.
Officials say Jabbar drove from Houston to New Orleans in a rented pickup truck and plowed through a crowd of revelers at around 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day, killing 14 people and injuring dozens. Officials said he was shot dead by police.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Jabbar had placed two improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, along Bourbon Street, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, Christopher Raia, said at a briefing Thursday. Raia said the devices were found in coolers, and were active at the time, but were “rendered safe” by law enforcement. A person familiar with the investigation told CBS News that the devices were rudimentary pipe bombs that contained shrapnel including nails, screws and tacks.
Investigators also searched the Airbnb where Jabbar stayed in New Orleans and detonated materials they described as concerning to them at the location of the Airbnb on Wednesday afternoon.
Jabbar posted videos declaring his support for ISIS shortly before the deadly rampage, the FBI said Thursday.
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