A member of the National Guard Military Police stands, in the area where people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year's celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S [Source: Reuters]

A U.S. Army veteran who drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s Day revelers had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, but acted alone in the attack that killed at least 14 people, the FBI said.

The suspect, who the FBI said was shot dead at the scene after firing at police, has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texan who once served in Afghanistan. He drove from Houston to New Orleans on Dec. 31, and posted five videos on Facebook between 1:29 a.m. and 3:02 a.m. on the morning of the attack in which he said he supported IS, the Islamic militant group with fighters in Iraq and Syria, the FBI said.

In the first video, Jabbar said he previously planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned that the media coverage would not focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers,” FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said at a press conference.

Jabbar also said in the videos that he had joined IS before last summer and provided his last will and testament, Raia said.

Surveillance video footage showed Jabbar placing two improvised explosive devices in coolers a few hours before the attack at intersections around Bourbon Street, the popular New Orleans tourist destination where the attack unfolded, Raia said. They were both rendered safe at the scene.

Other people were seen on video looking at the coolers, who investigators now believe were just curious passers-by, not accomplices.

New Orleans officials said the Sugar Bowl college football game that had been scheduled for Wednesday in a New Year’s Day tradition would take place on Thursday afternoon. The city will also host the National Football League’s Super Bowl next month.

The FBI said there appeared to be no link between the attack in New Orleans and the incident in Las Vegas on the same day in which a Tesla Cybertruck packed with gasoline canisters and large firework mortars exploded in flames outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House on Jan. 20.

The injured victims in the New Orleans attack included two police officers wounded by gunfire from the suspect, taking place a mere three hours into the new year in the historic French Quarter. At least 14 people and the suspect were killed, the FBI said.

Among the victims were the mother of a 4-year-old who had just moved into a new apartment after winning a promotion at work, a New York financial employee and accomplished student-athlete who was visiting home for the holidays, and an 18-year-old aspiring nurse from Mississippi.