The Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal agencies have warned about the risk of “copycat or retaliatory attacks” after a man drove a rented pickup truck through a crowd of New Year’s revelers on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, killing 14 people before he was shot dead in a firefight with police.
The bulletin, reviewed by CBS News, was released overnight and distributed to law enforcement partners nationwide. It warned that vehicle ramming attacks are “likely to remain attractive for aspiring attackers” because of the relative ease of requiring a vehicle and the “low skill threshold necessary” to carry out such a plot.
The tactic has often been used by ISIS in the past, according to the bulletin. Neither ISIS nor any other terror group has claimed responsibility for the Bourbon Street attack, the bulletin said, but the driver, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran from from Houston, declared his support for ISIS in a series of videos posted before the attack.
Eduardo Munoz / REUTERS
The federal bulletin noted that official ISIS messaging between 2014 and 2016 called for ramming attacks followed with secondary weapons. At least 13 attacks using vehicles as weapons were carried out in the United States, Canada and Europe between 2016 and 2017, the agencies said. The Bourbon Street attack is the seventh attack inspired by a foreign terror organization on U.S. soil since 2001, the bulletin said, and the first since 2017 to result in fatalities.
“The surge in vehicle-ramming attacks in 2016 and 2017 suggests that successful attacks — particularly in the West — may inspire similarly motivated actors to adopt the same method,” the bulletin said.
Online, foreign terror organizations and supporter groups had released multiple videos calling for violence during the winter holidays, specifically New Year’s celebrations, the bulletin said. Another deadly vehicle ramming incident occurred just over a week before the Bourbon Street attack: A man intentionally drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Germany on Dec. 22, 2024, killing five people and leaving more than 200 people injured. German officials said mental illness may have played a role in that case.
Supporters of the terror group have celebrated both attacks online, the bulletin said.
Perpetrators of such attacks may also have secondary weapons, like improvised explosive devices or guns, the bulletin warned. Jabbar had planted two IEDs, hidden in coolers, both of which were found and neutralized by authorities, the FBI said in a briefing Thursday. Two law enforcement sources told CBS News that the suspect also had an AR-15 style weapon and a handgun with him at the time of the attack. He fired at police and wounded two officers before being shot and killed, CBS News previously reported.
The bulletin highlighted some warning signs that officials can watch for, including online calls for violence against a specific event, or a person trying to rent or lease a vehicle with false documents or giving vague or unverifiable information on rental agreements without a reasonable explanation. Unexplained inconsistencies in the reasoning for renting a vehicle, or nervousness or a refusal to answer questions about the reason for rental, may also be a sign for concern, the bulletin said. Officials should also watch for inquiries about modifying a vehicle for heavier loads or faster speeds, and monitor reports of rental vehicles parked near sensitive facilities for a prolonged period of time.
The FBI continues to investigate the New Orleans attack and has asked anyone with information or video related to the incident to contact law enforcement.
FBI
