Investigators recover equipment from Texas home of attacker who killed 14 and injured dozens on New Year’s Day. Authorities have confirmed finding bomb-making materials at the New Orleans home that US military veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar rented before ramming a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers, according to an FBI statement containing the most complete account yet of the attack.
Investigators recovered from Jabbar’s rental truck a transmitter intended to trigger the two bombs, the statement read, confirming prior media reporting. It said authorities also found bomb-making materials at the New Orleans home Jabbar rented prior to the attack. Jabbar tried to burn the house down by setting a small fire in a hallway and placing accelerants to help spread it, the FBI said. The flames burned out before firefighters arrived.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has determined Jabbar was the only person who would have had access to the residence on Mandeville Street in New Orleans when the fire was set. Federal authorities searching Jabbar’s home in Houston found a workbench in the garage and hazardous materials believed to have been used to make explosive devices, according to law enforcement officials familiar with the search. The officials were not authorized to speak about the inquiry and spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
The FBI investigation also revealed that Jabbar purchased a cooler in Vidor, Texas, hours before the attack and gun oil from a store in Sulphur, Louisiana, the officials said. Authorities also determined Jabbar booked his rental of the pickup truck on 14 November, suggesting he may have been plotting the attack for more than six weeks.
