Inside Look at ISIS Terrorist’s Scouting Trip to New Orleans Ahead of Attack

The chilling first-person video footage released by the FBI shows the perspective of ISIS terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar as he scouted New Orleans ahead of his New Year’s Day attack on Bourbon Street. The video, recorded with Meta smart glasses, captures Jabbar’s movements in the French Quarter before he carried out the deadly attack.

Jabbar, who wore the same glasses during the attack, drove a rented truck down Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. The FBI revealed that Jabbar had planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs) around the tourist-packed area, intending to cause even more casualties. However, law enforcement officers intervened and prevented him from detonating the devices.

Special Agent in Charge Joshua Jackson stated that the transmitter for the IEDs would have functioned if Jabbar had not been stopped in time. The investigation is ongoing to determine how Jabbar obtained the rare explosive compound used in the bombs, as well as how he constructed them in his Texas home.

Newly released videos show Jabbar placing the bombs in plastic coolers hours before the attack. He had rigged the explosives with makeshift remote detonators and planned to activate them from a transmitter in his truck. Prior to the attack, Jabbar uploaded videos to social media pledging allegiance to ISIS and expressing his desire to fight against nonbelievers.

The FBI outlined Jabbar’s movements leading up to the attack, including trips to New Orleans from Houston and visits to gun stores in Texas. Jabbar had also traveled to Egypt, Canada, and Florida in the months before the attack. Sixteen victims remain hospitalized, with eight in the intensive care unit, and two officers were wounded in the shootout with Jabbar.

The details of Jabbar’s planning and execution of the attack continue to unfold as investigators piece together the events leading up to the tragic incident on Bourbon Street.