New Orleans attacker used very rare explosive in bombs, officials say

Freddie Clayton and Tom Winter

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The driver who killed 14 people in an ISIS-inspired vehicular attack in New Orleans used a very rare explosive compound in two homemade bombs that did not detonate, two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter told NBC News.

The explosive has never been used in a U.S. terrorist attack or incident, nor in a European one, the officials said. A key question for investigators now is how Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the attacker, learned about the explosive and how he managed to produce it.

Neither of the homemade devices exploded and it remains unclear whether the failure was due to a malfunction, lack of activation or another issue. Jabbar planned to use a transmitter to detonate the two bombs, which were placed in coolers, authorities have said

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in a joint statement Friday that the two explosive devicess were placed on Bourbon Street, which Jabbar later turned into a scene of devastation.