FBI launches probe into New Orleans attacker’s visits to Egypt, Canada

The FBI is looking into past visits to Egypt and Canada by the suspect in the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people after a truck was rammed into a crowd of revelers, an FBI official told reporters on Sunday.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a US Army veteran aged 42 who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group, was the suspect in the attack and the FBI says he acted alone. He was killed in a shootout with police after the rampage, which also injured dozens of people and has been labelled by the FBI as an act of terrorism.

“We have also tracked that Jabbar travelled to Cairo, Egypt, from June 22 until July 3 of 2023. A few days later he flew to Ontario, Canada, on July 10 and returned to the US on July 13 of 2023,” Lyonel Myrthil, FBI special agent in charge of the New Orleans field office, said at a press briefing.

“Our agents are getting answers as to where he went, who he met with and how those trips may or may not tie into his actions in our city in New Orleans,” he added.

The FBI also said Jabbar made at least two trips to New Orleans in the months prior to the attack, one in October and the other in November.

The suspect stayed in a rental home in New Orleans during that time, the FBI said, adding he recorded videos with Meta (META.O) glasses travelling through the French Quarter, the neighbourhood in New Orleans where the attack occurred on Bourbon Street.

The New Orleans coroner’s office has identified all 14 deceased victims, among whom the youngest was aged 18 and the oldest was 63. Most were in their 20s.