The terrorist in the New Orleans truck attack travelled to Canada last summer, according to the FBI.
It currently remains unknown if 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s trip to Canada was connected to the attack, but authorities said he flew to Ontario from Houston, Tex. on July 10 before returning to the U.S. three years later.
“Canadian authorities will continue to work with their American counterparts, including the FBI, as they pursue their investigation,” said Minister of Public Safety David McGuinty.
Jabbar had also travelled to New Orleans twice in the months leading up to the New Year’s Day attack, first in October and again in November.
In his November trip to New Orleans, Jabbar used a pair of Meta smart glasses to record video as he rode through the French Quarter on a bicycle.
FBI special agency Lyonel Myrthil said in a press conference on Sunday that this was how “he plotted this hideous attack.”
“Our agents are getting answers to where he went, who he went with and how those trips may or may not tie into his actions here,” said Myrthil.
Jabbar also wore those same glasses during the attack, however, he did not activate them to livestream his actions, noted Myrthil.
The FBI has since released the video Jabbar recorded in preparation for the attack, which reveals him placing two containers of explosive devices in the French Quarter around 2 a.m. not long before he carried out his attack.
According to officials, one of the containers was transported a block away by someone uninvolved with the attack.
“All investigative details and evidence that we have now still support that Jabbar acted alone here in New Orleans,” said FBI deputy assistant director Christopher Raia on Sunday. “We have not seen any indications of an accomplice in the United States, but we are still looking into potential associates in the U.S. and outside of our borders.”
The former U.S. Army soldier was said to have proclaimed his support for the Islamist militant group ISIS in online videos posted only hours before he began his spree of targeting pedestrians on Bourbon Street early last Wednesday.
Jabbar’s rampage left 14 people murdered and injured dozens more before police fatally shot him during a shootout at the scene.
Thirteen people are still in hospital following the attack.
The youngest victim was 18 and the oldest 63 with the majority of victims being in their twenties.
New Orleans being a popular destination for tourism, those slain by Babbar’s attack came from New York, New Jersey, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Britain.
In an unrelated story, the RCMP arrested an 18-year-old man from Newmarket, Ont. after suspecting he had plans to leave Canada and join ISIS.
Police officials say that the suspect was a minor when the RCMP investigation was initially launched, making the publicly available details of the case limited, including the suspect’s identity.