New Orleans Attacker Had Transmitter to Set Off Explosives, F.B.I. Says

The man who plowed a pickup truck down a crowded New Orleans street early on New Year’s Day, killing 14 people, had planned to use a transmitter to detonate two explosives he had placed near the site of the attack, the F.B.I.said on Friday.The attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who the authorities have said was inspired by the Islamic State extremist group, had placed both of the explosive devices on Bourbon Street, the famous stretch of bars and revelry that Mr.

Jabbar turned into a scene of devastation on Wednesday morning.Neither of the devices went off, and the transmitter and two guns were recovered from the truck driven by Mr.Jabbar, who was killed by the police moments after his attack.

It was not clear whether the devices had failed to detonate because Mr.Jabbar had not activated the transmitter, or because it did not work.Mr.

Jabbar, 42, had rented the truck and had driven it from Houston to New Orleans earlier on New Year’s Eve.The authorities also disclosed on Friday that he had set fire to a short-term rental house where he had apparently spent time about a 15-minute drive from the site of the attack.The F.B.I.

said investigators had found bomb-making materials at the house, on Mandeville Street.The agency said in a statement that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had determined that Mr.

Jabbar was the only person who could have set the fire and that he had used accelerants “in his effort to destroy it and other evidence of his crime.”Investigators said Mr.Jabbar had set the fire in a hallway and had then left the house.

By the time firefighters arrived at the scene, it had largely gone out on its own and was only smoldering.There was no visible damage to the outside of the house.

The authorities recovered a homemade device from the house that they believe was to be used as a suppressor for a rifle.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your pati...

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Publisher: The New York Times

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