FBI says driver in New Orleans rampage acted alone and was '100%' inspired by Islamic State group

The FBI also revealed that the driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an American citizen from Texas, posted five videos on his Facebook account in the hours before the attack in which he proclaimed his support for the militant group and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the famed French Quarter district.

"This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act," said Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division, calling Jabbar "100% inspired" by the Islamic State.

The attack along Bourbon Street killed 14 revelers, along with Jabbar, 42, who was fatally shot in a firefight with police after steering his speeding truck around a barricade and plowing into the crowd. About 30 people were injured.

It was the deadliest IS-inspired assault on U.S. soil in years, laying bare what federal officials have warned is a resurgent international terrorism threat. It also comes as the FBI and other agencies brace for dramatic leadership upheaval — and likely policy changes — after President-elect Donald Trump's administration takes office.

Raia stressed that there was no indication of a connection between the New Orleans attack and the explosion Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruckfilled with explosives outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel. The person inside that truck, a decorated U.S. Army Green Beret, shot himself in the head just before detonation, authorities said.

The FBI continued to hunt for clues about Jabbar but said that a day into its investigation, it was confident he was not aided by anyone else in the attack, which killed an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton University football star, among others.

The attack plans also included the placement of crude bombs in the neighborhood in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage, officials said. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene. Other devices were determined to be non-functional.

Officials reviewed surveillance video showing people standing near one of the coolers but concluded that they were not connected "in any way" with the attack, though investigators still want to speak with them as witnesses, Raia said.

Investigators were also trying to understand more about Jabbar's path to radicalization, which they say culminated with him picking up a rented truck in Houston on Dec. 30 and driving it to New Orleans the following night.

In New Orleans on Thursday, a still-reeling city inched back toward normal operations.

Authorities finished processing the scene early in the morning, removing the last of the bodies, and Bourbon Street — famous worldwide for music, open-air drinking and festive vibes — reopened for business by early afternoon.

The Sugar Bowl college football playoff game between Notre Dame and Georgia, initially set for Wednesday night and postponed by a day in the interest of national security, was played Thursday evening. The city also planned to host the Super Bowl next month.

New Orleans "is not only ready for game day today, but we’re ready to continue to host large-scale events in our city because we are built to host at every single turn," New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said.