FBI Hunting Likely Terror Cell That Planted Bombs Around New Orleans

Law enforcement officials in Louisiana are hunting down what is likely an Islamic terror cell that was behind the terrorist attack in New Orleans during the early morning hours on Wednesday.

The news comes after the FBI confirmed in a statement that the suspect who allegedly murdered at least 10 people in a vehicle and shooting attack was 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar.

Jabbar had an ISIS flag with him during the terrorist attack, the FBI said.

Federal agents were at the home of Jabbar’s ex-wife on Wednesday afternoon. Her new husband told The New York Times that Jabbar was in the process of converting to Islam and had started “being all crazy” recently.

The Associated Press reported that, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin the publication obtained, “surveillance footage captured three men and a woman placing one of multiple improvised explosive devices” around the French Quarter.

The report added that guns and bombs were found inside Jabbar’s vehicle, which were concealed within coolers and were wired for remote detonation. The detonator was discovered inside the vehicle.

The report comes after the FBI said during a press conference that officials “do not believe” that Jabbar acted alone.

“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” said FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan. “We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates. That’s why we need the public’s help.”

Duncan said later during the press conference that she did not want to name a specific number of suspects that the FBI was looking at because she did not want to limit the possibility that there were more unknown suspects.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) and Governor Jeff Landry confirmed during the press conference that law enforcement officials were hunting down suspects.

Kennedy said the FBI was “in the process of trying to catch the other bad guys.”

Landry said moments later that law enforcement was “hunting some bad people down.”

National security writer Tom Rogan noted on X that, according to publicly available flight tracker data, the “FBI Hostage Rescue Team callsign aircraft seems headed to New Orleans.”

“The quick reaction team is always on four hour readiness to move,” Rogan wrote. “Considering when attack took place, looks like they are moving en masse with all the gear. Going cell hunting…”

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