New Orleans attack: Suspect expressed ‘desire to kill’ as 15 confirmed dead in New Year attack
At least 15 people were killed after a US army veteran who had expressed a “desire to kill” drove a pick-up truck into crowds of people celebrating New Year in New Orleans before he was fatally shot dead by police.
The FBI said it is investigating the attack in the early hours of Wednesday on the famous Bourbon Street as a terrorist act and does not believe the driver acted alone.
An ISIS flag was attached to the vehicle as it was driven at speed down the busy road, the FBI said. President Joe Biden has said the suspect had posted a video to social media hours before the attack in which he said he was inspired by the Islamic State group.
New Orleans latest: Follow live updates
An IS flag that was attached to the pick-up truck that was driven down Bourbon Street
Multiple improvised explosive devices – including two pipe bombs hidden inside coolers and wired for remote detonation – were found in the vehicle and elsewhere in the city’s French Quarter.
The suspect, identified by the FBI as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a US citizen from Texas, had driven around safety measures in place to protect pedestrians.
The attack happened in the city’s French Quarter
He was fatally shot after getting out of the rented pick-up truck and opening fire on responding police officers, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said.
Two officers were also injured in the gun battle and more than 30 people were injured in the attack.
Analysis: IS flag link is stark reminder dangerous extremist Islamist ideology never went away
‘Desire to kill’
Addressing the nation on Wednesday night, Mr Biden said called the attack a “despicable” and “heinous act”.
He added: “There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”
Addressing the victims and the people of New Orleans, he added: “Our nation grieves with you as you mourn and as you heal.”
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New Orleans suspect ‘says hello’ on old promo vid
Mr Biden said Jabbar had posted a video on social media indicating he had been influenced by Islamic State and that he had expressed a “desire to kill.”
The Associated Press news agency, citing an intelligence bulletin, said the suspect was wearing a ballistic vest and helmet. The flag of the IS group was also found on the vehicle’s trailer hitch, the FBI said.
A handgun and an AR-style rifle were also recovered.
FBI agents at the scene of the attack in New Orleans. Pic: Reuters
A damaged door on Bourbon Street after a suspicious package was detonated. Pic: AP
Law enforcement also closed off a road leading to a property in Houston, Texas, which is thought to be associated with the suspect.
Images showed a bomb disposal robot and SWAT officers at the scene.
Jabbar served in human resources and IT roles in the US army between 2007 and 2015.
He was deployed to Afghanistan between 2009 and 2010, before moving to the reserves from 2015 to 2020.
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What we know about the New Orleans attack
Possible link to Tesla Cybertruck explosion
US authorities are also investigating whether the attack has any connection to a Tesla Cybertruck which exploded outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas.
Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported that authorities are examining a “possible military connection” between the two suspects, and are already looking into the fact both men used the Turo car app to rent the vehicles used in both incidents.
Sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News the driver of the Cybertruck had previous military experience – although they stressed that the investigation is still unfolding.
Read more:
First victims named
What more do we know about suspect?
New Year’s carnage haunts New Orleans – but ‘Big Easy’ has suffered before
A robot is deployed at a location associated with the attacker in Houston, Texas. Pic: AP
Some of the victims of the New Orleans attack have been identified.
Among them were 18-year-old aspiring nurse Ni’Kyra Cheyenne Dedeaux and Princeton graduate Tiger Bech, 27.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has urged people to avoid the area, which remains an active crime scene with a large part of Bourbon Street cordoned off.
The FBI has repeatedly warned about a heightened terrorism threat due to the Israel-Hamas war.
Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died aged 41.
In a statement to Sky’s US partner network NBC News on Friday, her family said she took her own life in the Perth suburb of Neergabby, Australia, where she had been living for several years.
“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” her family said.
“She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.
“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”
Pic: AP
Police said emergency services received reports of an unresponsive woman at a property in Neergabby on Friday night.
“Police and St John Western Australia attended and provided emergency first aid. Sadly, the 41-year-old woman was declared deceased at the scene,” a police spokeswoman said.
“The death is being investigated by Major Crime detectives; early indication is the death is not suspicious.”
Sexual assault claims
Prince Andrew has denied all claims of wrongdoing. File pic: Reuters
Ms Giuffre sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The duke has repeatedly denied the claims, and he has not been charged with any criminal offences.
In March 2022, it was announced Ms Giuffre and Andrew had reached an out-of-court settlement – believed to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.
‘An incredible champion’
Sigrid McCawley, Ms Giuffre’s attorney, said in a statement that she “was much more than a client to me; she was a dear friend and an incredible champion for other victims”.
“Her courage pushed me to fight harder, and her strength was awe-inspiring,” she said. “The world has lost an amazing human being today.”
“Rest in peace, my sweet angel,” she added.
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Dini von Mueffling, Ms Giuffre’s representative, also said that “Virginia was one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever had the honour to know”.
“Deeply loving, wise, and funny, she was a beacon to other survivors and victims,” she added. “She adored her children and many animals.
“She was always more concerned with me than with herself. I will miss her beyond words.
“It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her.”
Ms Giuffre said at the end of March she had four days to live after a car accident, posting on social media that “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure”. She was discharged from hospital eight days later.
Raised mainly in Florida, she said she was abused by a family friend early in life, which led to her living on the streets at times as a teenager.
She said that in 2000, she met Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US Department of Justice
Ms Giuffre said Maxwell then introduced her to Epstein and hired her as his masseuse, and said she was sex trafficked and sexually abused by him and associates around the world.
‘A survivor’
After meeting her husband in 2002, while taking massage training in Thailand at what she said was Epstein’s behest, she moved to Australia and had a family.
She founded the sex trafficking victims’ advocacy charity SOAR in 2015, and is quoted on its website as saying: “I do this for victims everywhere.
“I am no longer the young and vulnerable girl who could be bullied. I am now a survivor, and nobody can ever take that away from me.”
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
Donald Trump has met Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the Pope’s funeral, Vatican sources have told Sky News.
The US and Ukrainian presidents had a “very productive discussion”, according to a White House Official, and have also agreed to hold further talks after the service.
They are among world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, who are attending the funeral of Pope Francis.
Follow live updates: Zelenskyy among world leaders joining thousands of mourners
There was applause from some of those gathered in St Peter’s Square when the Ukrainian leader walked out.
The former British ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy.
Trump and Zelenskyy meet for first time since Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine, and is their first face-to-face meeting after a very public row between the presidents at the White House in February.
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish Armed Forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening, in a post on X.
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US
Donald Trump says Russia and Ukraine are ‘very close to a deal’ – and says ‘two sides should now meet’
Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal” with “most of the major points agreed” – as he called for the two sides to meet.
Shortly after arriving in Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral, the US president said high-level officials should now meet to “finish [the deal] off”.
“A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off’.
“Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!”
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Ukraine-Russia peace talks explained
Throughout the week, the US president has criticised both Ukraine and Russia for failing to agree to a peace deal.
On Wednesday, he accused Mr Zelenskyy of harming talks on Truth Social, saying “the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE”.
A day later, after nine people were killed in Kyiv after a Russian missile and drone strike, Mr Trump said: “Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!”
The president and other officials have also threatened to withdraw from negotiations if no progress is made toward a deal.
It comes after Mr Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss a US-brokered peace plan for Ukraine.
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Putin-Witkoff meeting
The talks allowed Russia and the United States to “further bring their positions closer together” on “a number of international issues”, a Kremlin aide said.
Speaking earlier on the flight to Italy, Mr Trump said he hadn’t been fully briefed on Mr Witkoff and Mr Putin’s meeting – but added it was a “pretty good meeting”.
Read more:
US and Russia talks moving in ‘right direction’, top diplomat says
A ‘barbaric’ 24 hours in a ‘horrendous’ war
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it would not accept a deal conceding land or handing over sovereignty to Russia.
However, Mr Trump said in an interview with TIME magazine that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” describing the region as a place where Moscow has “had their submarines” and “the people speak largely Russian”.
“Zelenskyy understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time,” he added. “It’s been with them long before Trump came along.”
When asked on Friday about Mr Trump’s comments, Mr Zelenskyy did not want to comment but repeated that recognising occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian is a red line.
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