After deadly New Orleans attack, police ramp up security and somber crowd pays respects

Authorities say the attack was carried out by 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a former Army soldier from Texas who posted social media messages saying he was inspired by the Islamic State militant group. Jabbar was fatally shot in a firefight with police at the scene of the deadly crash.

Famous worldwide for its festive vibes, Bourbon Street was solemn. A day after the crime scene reopened to the public, locals and tourists stopped to pay respect to victims of the attack as the sound of bucket drums echoed. People shed tears while gathering at a growing memorial. Some dropped flowers and candles while others dropped to their knees to say a quick prayer.

The White House said President Joe Biden would travel to New Orleans next week. The president and first lady planned to visit Monday to "grieve with the families and community members impacted by the tragic attack."

Police used multiple vehicles and barricades on Friday to block traffic at Bourbon and Canal Streets as crowds of pedestrians swelled. Other law enforcement agencies helped city officers provide extra security, said Reese Harper, a spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department.

"This enhanced safety effort will continue daily, not just during large events," Harper said in a news release.

The Joan of Arc parade in the French Quarter was scheduled to take place Monday to kick off the busy Carnival season ahead of Mardi Gras, which arrives March 4 this year. Antoinette de Alteriis, one of the parade organizers, said thousands of people typically attend.

Meanwhile, New Orleans will also host the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, barely a month after the New Year's attack raised security concerns that delayed college football's Sugar Bowl by a day.

The FBI continued to hunt for clues about Jabbar after the agency concluded he was not aided by anyone else in the attack, which killed an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton University football star, among others.

The FBI said that hours before the attack, Jabbar, a 42-year-old American citizen from Texas, posted five videos on his Facebook account in which he proclaimed his support for the Islamic State group and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the famed French Quarter district.

It was the deadliest IS-inspired assault on U.S. soil in years, laying bare what federal officials have warned is a resurgent international terrorism threat.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Friday that the Army's Criminal Investigative Division was working with the FBI to provide records and look into how Jabbar could have been radicalized. Jabbar enlisted in the Army in 2007, transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left military service in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.

"The FBI is going to, over the course of the investigation, comb through how this individual did become radicalized in terms of (looking at) his personnel information, information while he was serving in the Army and as a Reservist," Singh told reporters.

The FBI recovered a black IS flag from Jabbar's rented pickup and reviewed five videos posted to Facebook, including one in which he said he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned news headlines would not focus on the "war between the believers and the disbelievers," said Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division.

Raia stressed there was no indication of a connection between the New Orleans attack and the explosion Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks outside Trump's Las Vegas hotel.

The New Orleans attack plans also included the placement of crude bombs in the neighborhood in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage, officials said. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene. Other devices were determined to be nonfunctional.