What a law enforcement expert says about NOLA truck attack

NEW ORLEANS, La. — Law enforcement officials in New Orleans said that they no longer believe any other suspects were involved in the New Year’s Day attack on Bourbon Street.

After reviewing surveillance videos more closely, investigators said that the 42-year-old suspect, Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, placed improvised explosive devices in the area himself, and then changed clothes.

“This is not uncommon that the narrative starts off one way, then pivots, and potentially pivots back to the what was originally thought,” law enforcement and security expert Todd McGhee said. “How that happens is the vehicle in this instance was rented. The question is was it rented by Jabbar or by someone else on his behalf? So now that take investigators down a new pathway or new direction in the investigation.”

Officials continued working to link the suspect’s action’s to a terrorist group after investigators found an ISIS flag in the back of his rented pick-up truck.

“In organizations like ISIS they are experts at manipulation, they are experts at identifying marginalized people within our society,” McGhee said. “In this particular case, you had a person that had military training, had access to firearms, had a level of knowledge about [Improvised Explosive Devices], and he was the perfect weapon to be quite frank.”

In the wake of the attack, the All-State Sugar Bowl College Football Playoff game was postponed to Thursday, with increased security measures put in place.

“This is bigger than football, this is bigger than entertainment, this is now a national security issue, all as a result of one bad actor,” McGhee said.