RICHMOND, Va. — A retired Virginia FBI Special Agent says it’s as much about determining what it isn’t, as much as it’s about what it is, when it comes to acts of terror investigations.
“At the end of the day, we've eliminated a lot of things, and what's left is going to be what we're dealing with, whatever that might be,” said retired Supervisory FBI Special Agent Gregg McCrary.
“It was, 'Oh no. Here we go again,'” said McCrary.
McCrary, who was with the FBI for more that 25 years, was reacting to the death of 15 people and injury of at least 35 others in New Orleans Wednesday morning. During his time at the Bureau he worked as a supervisor with the Behavioral Science Unit and profiled terrorists.
The FBI said Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas, drove a pick-up truck plowing into a New Year’s crowd on Bourbon street. He was then killed in a firefight with police.
“To me, there is some indication that this is other than just a one-off situation, but that's to be determined,” said McCrary.
McCrary said this initially became an interstate case for the FBI because the truck used had Texas tags.
A flag representing the Islamic State group was found in the truck and the FBI is trying to determine if he was associated with any terrorist organizations, the agency said in a statement.
“When you get to the point that there looks like a lot of planning involved, once you discover explosive devices, these IEDs, he had a weapon," said McCrary. “So, this then indicates something potentially larger, which would again open the scope, widen the scope of the investigation, not just, you know, within the US, but potentially, potentially abroad, but certainly here.”
McCrary said every FBI office is in what is called a full field investigation with agents flushing out leads.
“Follow the leads. I mean, it sounds so basic, but that's it. I mean, for example, they'll process the truck, and they'll process for DNA and fingerprints and you know, you might say, well, why we got the guy. Well, you don't know. Maybe there are other fingerprints and other DNA of other people that we want identified, that could be instrumental,” McCrary added.
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