"The Talk of the Town"
(SAN DIEGO) — A fighter jet crashed into the San Diego Harbor on Wednesday, with the two pilots on board ejecting before being rescued by the Coast Guard, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue.
A Navy official didn’t confirm if one or two people were on the two-seat EA-18G Growler, but said the crew was successfully recovered.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(NEW ORLEANS) — Authorities no longer believe there are any other suspects involved in the New Year’s truck attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that killed 14 people and injured 35 others, the FBI said Thursday.
After investigators reviewed all of the surveillance videos more closely, it appears that the suspect — 42-year-old Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who also died in the attack — placed explosive devices in the area himself and then changed clothes, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The FBI is still investigating whether there were individuals Jabbar spoke to or messaged with prior to the early Wednesday attack, but no one was in the vicinity to help him do anything, the sources said.
“Federal law enforcement and the intelligence community are actively investigating any foreign or domestic contacts in connection that could possibly be relevant to the attack,” President Joe Biden said Thursday.
There is no additional threat to the public, Christopher Raia of the FBI said.
Raia called the attack a premeditated “act of terrorism.”
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry on Thursday compared the investigation to a jigsaw puzzle.
Over 400 tips have been submitted and investigators are combing through Jabbar’s laptops and phones, Raia said. More than 1,000 law enforcement officers have been “pouring over countless amounts of data, of videos, of surveillances, interviews, tracking down every possible lead,” Landry said.
Jabbar drove from Houston to New Orleans on Tuesday evening and posted several videos online “proclaiming his support for ISIS,” and mentioning he joined ISIS before this summer, Raia said.
“There were five videos posted on Jabbar’s Facebook account, which are time stamped beginning at 1:29 a.m. and the last at 3:02 a.m.,” Raia said. “In the first video, Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers.'”
An ISIS flag was recovered from the back of the truck, Raia said.
The death toll is not expected to rise beyond 14 people, Dr. Jeffrey Elder of the University Medical Center New Orleans told ABC News Live on Thursday. Sixteen people remain hospitalized at University Medical Center New Orleans, including eight in intensive care.
Jabbar was “hell-bent” on killing as many people as possible, driving a pickup truck onto the sidewalk around a parked police car serving as a barricade to plow into pedestrians, officials said.
The suspect mowed down dozens of people over a three-block stretch on the world-famous thoroughfare while firing into the crowd, police said.
Jabbar then exited the damaged vehicle armed with an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, law enforcement said. He was also armed with a handgun, sources told ABC News.
Officers returned fire, killing Jabbar, a U.S.-born citizen from Texas, sources said. At least two officers were injured, one by gunfire and the other when the officer was pinned by the truck, authorities said.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said security bollards were not working at the time because they were in the process of being replaced for next month’s Super Bowl.
Surveillance footage showed Jabbar placing two improvised explosive devices in coolers in the Bourbon Street area, Raia said.
“Those are the only two devices that we’ve been able to recover that were functional — both devices were rendered safe on scene,” he said.
Authorities have conducted search warrants in New Orleans and outside of Louisiana, the FBI’s New Orleans field office said.
A home in Houston was among those searched. The FBI in Houston said “there is no threat to residents in that area.”
Raia urged anyone who knew Jabbar to come forward.
“While we have interviewed many people who know Jabbar, we still need to talk to others,” he said. “Whether you know Jabbar personally, worked with him, served in the military or saw him in New Orleans or Texas, we need to talk to you.”
He said police also want to speak with witnesses who were in the French Quarter on New Year’s Eve or early on New Year’s Day.
The FBI has cleared Bourbon Street and authorities have the “confidence” to reopen it to the public ahead of the Sugar Bowl Thursday afternoon, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced Thursday.
The game was initially set for Wednesday and was postponed in the wake of the attack.
“I want to reassure the public that the city of New Orleans is not only ready for game day today, but we’re ready to continue to host large-scale events in our city,” she said.
“Our hearts and prayers continue to go out to the victims’ families,” she added.
There’s no apparent direct connection between the New Orleans attack and Wednesday’s Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, which is being investigated as a possible act of terror, Raia from the FBI said Thursday.
“They have not found any evidence of such a connection thus far — I’ve directed them to keep looking,” Biden said Thursday.
The Las Vegas driver was killed and seven bystanders suffered minor injuries, authorities said. The motive behind the incident remains under investigation, but investigators told ABC News they believe it was “intentional.”
The Cybertruck was rented via the Turo app, as was the truck used in the New Orleans attack, sources told ABC News.
The Cybertruck driver had an Army special operations background but there’s no evidence suggesting he and the New Orleans suspect knew each other, according to officials.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(NEW ORLEANS, LA) — The suspect in a deadly attack on New Year’s revelers in New Orleans has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas, according to the FBI.
At least 10 people were killed and dozens injured after a man drove a Ford pickup truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street at a high rate of speed early Wednesday, authorities said.
Authorities are working to determine whether the deceased suspect had any affiliation with terrorist organizations after an ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, the FBI said.
After barreling through the crowd over a three-block stretch, the suspect allegedly got out of the truck wielding an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, law enforcement officials briefed on the incident told ABC News. Officers returned fire, killing the suspect, police said. At least two police officers were shot and wounded, authorities said.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said at a press briefing on Wednesday. “It was not a DUI situation. This is more complex and more serious.”
She said the driver was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
Weapons and a “potential IED” were located in the subject’s vehicle, according to the FBI, which is leading the investigation.
“Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter,” the FBI said in a statement. “The FBI’s Special Agent Bomb Technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable and they will work to render those devices safe.”
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the horrific incident as a “terrorist attack” and the FBI said it was being investigated as an act of terror.
Investigators are probing whether the suspect acted alone or had help from others in planning and executing the attack, Jason Williams, the district attorney of Orleans Parish, which includes New Orleans, told ABC News.
The truck used in the attack appeared to be a Ford F-150 Lightning, an electric vehicle. It appears the truck was rented through the Turo app — a carsharing company, according to Rodrigo Diaz, the owner of the truck.
Diaz told ABC News he rented the truck to an individual through the app and is currently talking to the FBI. He declined further comment.
Diaz’s wife, Dora Diaz, told ABC News that she and her husband are devastated by the incident.
“My husband rents cars through the Turo app. I can’t tell you anything else. I’m here with my kids, and this is devastating,” Dora Diaz said.
ABC News has reached out to Turo.
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(VANCE COUNTY, NC) — The remains of a North Carolina woman who had been missing for over a year have been found by a dive team, officials said.
A dive team discovered human remains in Vance County on Thursday, according to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office. Vance County is northeast of Raleigh and Durham, and borders Virginia on its north.
The remains were identified by the medical examiner’s office as those of Dana Leigh Mustian, 33.
Mustian was last seen at her home on Nov. 30, 2023, according to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.
She was reported missing by her father on Dec. 4, 2023, according to the sheriff’s office.
The investigation into her disappearance and death will continue, the sheriff’s office said.
“We would like to thank Sheriff Curtis Brame and the Vance County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance,” the sheriff’s office added.
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