ISIS-inspired New Orleans terrorist Shamsuddin Jabbar had prepared an “extremely rare explosive compound” in two homemade bombs he planned to detonate on Bourbon Street, police said.
Law enforcement is currently investigating how Jabbar, 42, was able to learn about the explosive chemical, which officials say has never been used. It was announced that it had never been used in a terrorist attack in the United States or Europe. NBC News report.
Authorities have not said what the rare compound is or how they believe Jabbar was able to make it at his Texas home, where he kept a bomb-making bench.
Images of his workshop obtained exclusively by the newspaper show hidden bottles of chemicals seized by the FBI and a long list of compounds used to make bombs.
The two IEDs prepared by Jabbar were placed in a cooler near the scene of a truck crash that killed 14 people on New Year's Day and were equipped with electronic transmitters that signaled an explosion.
The FBI said Sunday that Jabbar was killed by police before he could detonate the explosives.
FBI/AFP (via Getty Images)
Investigators also found bomb-making materials inside Jabbar's AirBnB rental on Mandeville Street. The FBI said the terrorists attempted to set it on fire “to destroy it and other evidence of the crime.”
The city of New Orleans has identified all but one of the victims. The names released are: Brandon Taylor, 43 years old. Elliott Wilkinson, 40 years old. Nikila Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18 years old. Tiger Beck, 28 years old. Reggie Hunter, 37 years old. Nicole Perez, 27 years old. Kareem Badawi. Hubert Gausseau, 21 years old. Matthew Tenedrio, 25 years old. Drew Dauphin, 26 years old. Billy DiMaio, 25 years old. and Terrence Kennedy (63).
Follow the latest updates on the Bourbon Street terrorist attack in New Orleans.
About 30 people were injured, and 16 remain hospitalized, half in intensive care. Two police officers were also injured in the gunfight with Jabbar.
The attack was the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil in years and exposed a resurgence of the international terrorism threat that federal authorities have warned of.
As police investigate Jabbar's homemade bomb, investigators are also focused on determining his motive for the attack.
Officials said they found an ISIS flag in Mr. Jabbar's truck, as well as a video posted on Facebook in which Mr. Jabbar expressed support for the terrorist group before the attack.
