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The delayed College Football Playoff Sugar Bowl matchup between Notre Dame and Georgia at Caesars Superdome will have an "unprecedented" law enforcement presence in the wake of a deadly New Year's Day terrorist attack on New Orleans, Gov. Jeff Landry said during a news conference on Thursday (January 2).
"I want to rest [assure] people that right now in the city of New Orleans, there's an unprecedented amount of law enforcement resources that are being utilized to close out and to hunt down and finalize this investigation," Landry said via ESPN.
The game was originally scheduled to take place Wednesday (January 1) night, but was moved back one day after a terrorist plowed through a crowd, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 30 others, on Bourbon Street. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the city planned to reopen Bourbon Street at 3:30 p.m. ET, half an hour before the Sugar Bowl's kickoff.
Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, a Texas native and U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, was identified as the suspect in the terrorist attack and reportedly pledged his allegiances to the terrorist group ISIS and planned to kill his family prior to the incident, multiple officials briefed on the investigation confirmed to CNN. Jabbar referenced his divorce and plans to gather his family for a "celebration" with the intention to murder them, but said he changed his plans and joined ISIS in video recordings suspected to be made while driving to Louisiana to commit the attack.
The recordings appear to have been made at night, however, the exact timing is unclear, according to officials. Jabbar was killed during a shootout with police after plowing a rented truck through a crowd of people during the New Year's Day celebration in the French Quarter.
The suspect was found to have possible improvised explosive devices and an ISIS flag attached to his truck at the time of the incident, according to local and federal authorities. President Joe Biden said that the FBI notified him that Jabbar "posted videos on social media indicating that he's inspired by ISIS" and expressed "a desire to kill" a "mere hours before the attack" via ABC News. Two officers were reportedly shot during the incident but listed to be in stable condition.