(Washington) New Orleans attack suspect accused of killing 14 people on 1er January, went there twice to prepare the attack and filmed with connected glasses the street where he rushed into the crowd, the FBI said on Sunday.
During his first trip to Louisiana’s largest city, for a few days starting October 30, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old American citizen, used connected glasses from the company Meta to film the French Quarter, the FBI said at a press conference.
We see in the video, filmed from a bicycle, the ultra-touristy streets of the French Quarter of New Orleans, known for being festive day and night.
The glasses were found on the suspect after his death. He was therefore wearing them on the day of the attack, but did not activate them.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar made a second trip before the attack, said federal police agent Lyonel Myrthil. But investigators said they were trying to piece together the still vague details of this stay on November 10.
The suspect, a former soldier, also traveled to Egypt and Canada in the past two years, the FBI also said.
He went to Cairo for ten days in the summer of 2023 before staying in Canada immediately for three days. The FBI said it was looking for anyone who met him at that time to establish the reasons for these trips.
An Islamic State (IS) flag was found in the ram vehicle and the suspect proclaimed his support for IS in several videos, claiming to have joined the jihadist organization.
The FBI has also declared that it is treating the case as a “terrorist act”.
The attack created a wave of emotion in the United States and internationally. US President Joe Biden will visit the site on Monday to “share the pain of the bereaved families”.
