Federal officials have released new details about the short-term rental fire set by terrorist Chams al-Din Jabbar on Bourbon Street shortly before he bombed it. 14 people were killed At a New Year's celebration in New Orleans.
In a statement issued Sunday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said its National Response Team completed its investigation into the Mandeville Street residence that Jabbar rented. They determined that Jabbar set fire to the house at approximately 12:15 a.m., approximately four hours before the attack in the house. French Quarter.
The union explained that “Jabbar started the fire using an open flame (matches) before leaving.” “The fire started in the linen closet next to the washer and dryer. This is an enclosed area of the hallway that leads to other rooms in the residence.”
The attacker also placed accelerants in other rooms, which the ATF said was intended to “destroy evidence of his crimes.” But the agency indicated that the fire eventually subsided on its own.
What we know about the victims of the terrorist attack in New Orleans
Federal officials released new details about evidence obtained from Shamseddine Jabbar's short-term rental, which he rented shortly before the Bourbon Street attack. (Fox News Digital)
“We can confirm that the fire was still growing as the Nest thermostat switched from heating mode to cooling mode as the temperature in the home continued to rise,” the ATF said.
“Eventually, the fire went out on its own because this enclosed part of the residence ran out of oxygen and fuel and was never connected to accelerators in the other rooms.”
At approximately 5:18 a.m. – an hour after Bourbon Street Attack After Jabbar's death, a neighbor reported to 911 that there was a smell of smoke near the residence.
The statement added: “The New Orleans Fire Department responded and extinguished the burning fire and noticed evidence in the home, so they notified law enforcement.” “ATF and the FBI have secured the location at this point.”
The FBI previously said the fire burn allowed agents to recover evidence from the rental home, including “initial indications of bomb-making materials and a custom-made device suspected to be a rifle silencer.”
The ATF said in its announcement on Sunday that it had discovered that Jabbar had purchased one of the rifles used in the attack from someone in Texas on November 19. The seller told the ATF that he did not know Jabbar personally and was not aware of his extremist beliefs. .
At the rental home, agents also found evidence of RDX, or cyclotrimethylenetritramine, an explosive. But officials noted that Jabbar made a fatal mistake when he chose an explosive designed to be detonated by a detonator, and that using an electric match to detonate the explosives instead was a sign of inexperience.
The FBI has released images from surveillance footage that appear to show Shamsuddin Jabbar an hour before he drove a truck down Bourbon Street in New Orleans, early on January 1, 2025. (FBI via AP)
The agency concluded that “Jabbar used an explosive material more suitable for detonators, but he was unable to reach it, so he used an electric match to detonate the explosives.” He added, “Jabbar's lack of experience and his crude nature in assembling the device is the reason behind his use of the wrong device to detonate the explosives.”
Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
