The FBI and Department of Homeland Security on Thursday issued a joint intelligence bulletin warning the nation's 18,000 law-enforcement agencies about potential copycats seeking to emulate this week's devastating ramming and shooting attack in New Orleans, ABC News has learned.
The bulletin was sent out of an abundance of caution to sensitize law enforcement around the country to be on the lookout for any activity pointing to the use of vehicles as a method to inflict mass casualties, sources told ABC News.
The bulletin notes that ISIS -- to which New Orleans suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar pledged allegiance before the New Orleans attack, according to FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia -- has been promoting the use of vehicles as a terrorism weapon since around 2014.
Sources told ABC News that ISIS has ramped up calls for its supporters to launch low-tech, mass casualty ramming attacks in recent months, especially since the most recent Israel-Hamas conflict began in October 2023.
The bulletin offered law enforcement agencies tips on danger signs of upcoming attacks to look out for, including the use of pre-operational surveillance and fraudulent identity documents or credit to rent vehicles.
The bulletin stated that Jabbar was inspired by ISIS but that there remains no evidence of any co-conspirators. A senior law-enforcement official told ABC News that there is so far no sign of ISIS claiming responsibility for the New Orleans attack.
The ongoing investigation into the New Year's Day attack on Bourbon Street saw bomb-making materials recovered by FBI agents and local law enforcement at a residence linked to the suspect in Houston, Texas, on Thursday, sources confirmed to ABC News.
The items found were also referred to as "precursor chemicals" by agents in the field, sources said. They were discovered during the execution of a search warrant at Jabbar's last known residence in the small community of Greenspoint, in north Houston.
Authorities no longer believe there are any other suspects involved in the New Year's truck attack that killed 14 people and injured 35 others, the FBI said Thursday.
Sixteen people remain hospitalized at University Medical Center New Orleans, including eight in intensive care. The death toll is not expected to rise beyond 14 people, Dr. Jeffrey Elder of the University Medical Center New Orleans told ABC News Live on Thursday.
After investigators reviewed all surveillance videos, it appears that Jabbar -- a 42-year-old Army veteran and U.S.-born citizen from Texas, who also died in the attack -- placed explosive devices in the area himself and then changed clothes, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The FBI is still investigating whether there were individuals Jabbar spoke to or exchanged messages with prior to the early morning Wednesday attack, but no one was in the vicinity to help him do anything, the sources said.