An alleged member of the Islamic State is being interrogated in Iraq after officials there accused him of helping incite the devastating New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans that left 14 people dead.
However, U.S. authorities say no direct link has been established between the suspect in Iraq and Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the 42-year-old Texas man who plowed a rental truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street before dying in a shootout with police.
Although Jabbar flew a black-and-white ISIS flag from the back of the truck during the rampage, the Islamic State never formally claimed responsibility for the attack.
“While we continue to work with our law enforcement partners, both in the U.S. and internationally, based on the information to date, we continue to believe that Shamsud-Din Jabbar acted alone in carrying out the attack on Bourbon Street,” the FBI said in a statement to CBS News on Tuesday.
According to U.S. authorities, Jabbar rented a white Ford pickup truck in Houston before making the drive to New Orleans. In the early hours of January 1, he deliberately drove through several blocks of dense crowds celebrating the new year, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more before engaging in a fatal shootout with responding officers.
Prior to the attack, Jabbar posted videos to social media in which he pledged allegiance to ISIS and expressed a desire to kill, federal investigators said.
Meanwhile, Iraqi authorities revealed on April 27 that the U.S. had requested assistance through the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation. The suspect now in Iraqi custody was allegedly part of the Islamic State’s foreign operations office.
The FBI said its investigation into the New Orleans attack remains ongoing.
