Authorities have begun searching for accomplices to the main suspect, Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, who plowed through crowds of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation cast doubt that the New Orleans assailant acted alone, appealing for help from the community to locate potential associates.
“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said during a press briefing.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told Fox News that there is evidence that Jabbar worked with others to coordinate the attack. However, she and other officials have declined to share more specific details.
In a bold address to the public, Murrill asserted that they would apply the death plenty to those responsible.
“In Louisiana, we have the death penalty, and we will carry it out!” Murrill wrote on X, with users surprisingly praising Murrill’s conviction. One person wrote: “Good! Find the people that helped him! Unacceptable.” Another said, “I hope you do!” One user added: “When ya quit turning loose of the criminals, instead of prosecuting them, you just might put that penalty to use. I grew up in Louisiana. The crime is horrendous.” New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told NBC News that authorities have “people of interest” that they are investigating alongside Jabbar.
Previously, Murrill has said in an X post she will continue to push for “judicial accountability” after a New Orleans judge allowed a woman accused of murdering a man this past summer to await trial at home. “I, too, am utterly confused as to why the judge would let a murder suspect with a history of fleeing justice out on bail pending trial. I will continue pushing for more judicial accountability,” Murril wrote two days before the terror attack.
Records from Texas indicate that Jabbar faced charges years ago for two minor offenses. Jabbar, who was found with an ISIS flag in his vehicle, is accused of plowing into crowds and causing the deaths of 15 individual while injuring more than 30.