A New Orleans attacker attempted to use high explosives that could have killed hundreds

The New Orleans truck attacker built two bombs with an explosive that investigators believe was so powerful that it could have sprayed shrapnel hundreds of meters, potentially killing or injuring hundreds of people.

The bombs did not explode on New Year’s Day. But experts say the devices Shamsud-Din Jabbar built with a compound believed to be RDX would have had devastating effects had it not been for an amateurish mistake.

“As terrible as it is that he killed and injured all of those people, it literally could have been a lot worse if those devices had actually worked,” said Scott Sweetow, a retired Bureau of Alcohol executive , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives and former director of the FBI’s Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center. “You would literally expect hundreds of victims.”

A bomb made with RDX exploding in a tourist area of ​​New Orleans would be the equivalent of dropping several hand grenades into a crowded street, Sweetow said.

“It would have been an absolute bloodbath,” he added.

The bombs didn’t explode because Jabbar used the wrong device to detonate the explosives, federal police officials said.

He used an electric match that could ignite a typical pipe bomb made from powder explosives. But a compound like RDX is much more difficult to trigger. It is considered a highly explosive material, which means that it does not detonate without a primary explosion taking place in its vicinity – triggered by a so-called detonator or detonator.

Three explosives experts interviewed by NBC News said they were puzzled that Jabbar appeared to know how to use a little-known compound more powerful than TNT but did not know how to detonate it.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” said Anthony May, a retired ATF agent who also worked as an Army explosives watchdog in Afghanistan.

By using RDX, experts say Jabbar mimicked the tactics of terrorist groups in the Middle East, where it is much easier to obtain. Most bombings in the United States involve powder explosives, which are easier to produce and far weaker.

“What concerns me most is that other people might try to do this now,” said David Hyche, a former ATF agent and now police chief in Calera, Alabama.

Jabbar, 42, an Army veteran from Texas who drew inspiration from the Islamic State terrorist group, killed 14 people and injured dozens when he drove a rented pickup truck through a cordoned-off section of Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m. on Jan. 3 drove along. 1. After walking a three-block path of destruction, he was shot in a shootout with police.

About an hour earlier, Jabbar had put his homemade bombs in two coolers and placed them on Bourbon Street, the famous party district in the heart of the French Quarter. It remains unclear whether he resorted to the truck attack because the bombs failed to explode, or whether using the truck to kill was always part of his plan. According to law enforcement officials, Jabbar also owned a handgun and a semi-automatic rifle with a privately manufactured silencer.

At his Houston home, investigators found explosive materials that field tests identified as RDX. They also found explosives in a house he rented in New Orleans, which testing initially identified as R-Salt, an explosive similar in chemical composition to RDX. But the ATF said Sunday that it now expects more thorough lab testing will show it was also RDX.

RDX is not easy to get in the US. It is a military explosive also used by demolition and mining companies for special purposes and can only be purchased with a federal license. Criminals have been known to get their hands on stolen RDX, but several experts told NBC News they suspect Jabbar synthesized it himself – a time-consuming and extremely dangerous undertaking.

This theory is based on footage shot by the New York Post at Jabbar’s Houston home, which showed a property receipt listing the items seized by federal investigators, including common lab supplies and precursor chemicals such as acetone, sulfuric acid and potassium nitrate .

“There is no indication that he had the knowledge necessary to do this himself,” said Sweetow, the former ATF and FBI official. “So he would have had to either get information from external sources or do extensive research on the Internet.”

Terrorist groups in the Middle East have bomb makers who synthesize their own high explosives, but this is rare in the United States. The two most famous cases are the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1995 Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing.

Had Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, used RDX, the attack would have been even more catastrophic, experts said.

“They wouldn’t have blown up a single building,” said Hyche, the former ATF agent and later police chief. “They would blow up several buildings.”

Building a bomb with RDX is also more challenging and dangerous.

“Most people don’t have the skills to do this and aren’t willing to follow a recipe,” Sweetow said. “People kill themselves all the time trying to make this stuff because they’re not as skilled as a chemist.”

The retired ATF officials said investigators would almost certainly look into how Jabbar gained the knowledge to use a compound like RDX. Was he working directly with a member of ISIS or another terrorist group? Or did he find instructions in an unknown corner of the Internet?

“If someone told him how to do something like that, where are they?” Sweetow said. “And is this part of a trend?”