NEW ORLEANS — The FBI announced in a press conference Sunday that the Bourbon Street attacker who killed 14 people on New Year's Day visited New Orleans twice months before the attack.

An FBI official said Shamsud-Din Jabbar made at least two trips to New Orleans in the months before the attack - once in October and once in November. Previously, he traveled to Cairo, Egypt and Ontario, Canada. Officials say it is still unclear why Jabbar chose New Orleans.

In October, Jabbar biked through the French Quarter while filming through Meta Glasses, which can discreetly record video or live stream but look like regular glasses. He wore the same style of smart glasses on New Year's Day but never turned them on.

About an hour before the attack, he placed an IED in a cooler near the corner of Bourbon and St. Peter streets. Investigators said someone dragged the cooler a block down the street to the corner of Bourbon and Orleans streets, where it was found. Authorities said they have no reason to believe the person who dragged the cooler was involved.

Around 3:15 a.m., Jabbar placed a second IED in a bucket-type cooler at Bourbon and Toulouse streets.

Around 5 a.m., a fire was reported at the rental home Jabbar was staying on Mandeville Street. The New Orleans Fire Department said they found multiple explosives when they entered the home. An FBI official said they strongly believe Jabbar is solely responsible for the Mandeville house fire, and determined he set the fire before he went to Bourbon Street. 

Investigators said the explosive materials found showed he was inexperienced with explosives and they have "field tested" those materials since the attack.

Officials said if New Orleans police officers had taken longer to respond, Jabbar could have detonated the explosives he planted using a detonator found in his rented Ford F-150.

Jabbar was inspired by the Islamic State terror group ISIS, officials said.

The FBI thinks Jabbar acted alone on New Year's Day and said there is no indication more people will be arrested in connection with this attack.

"Lone actors present a particular challenge to law enforcement and intelligence because they are difficult to identify, investigate, and disrupt—especially when their radicalization and communication with other like-minded individuals happens online as is believed to be the case with the New Orleans attacker," FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia, who works in the agency's counterterrorism division said.

Authorities are still asking for the public's help with this investigation. Anyone with details can call the FBI's toll-free tip line at 1-800-225-5324 or online here.

The FBI announced that a family assistance center is being set up at St. Martin De Porres Catholic Church on Elysian Fields. Officials say the center will be open from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 5, and weekdays 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. It will stay open until officials feel they have provided everything they can to victims and loved ones.

"From day one, we did not waiver in regards to making sure that our victims were a top priority, in addition to the families,” New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said.

Mayor Cantrell also said she has called in a tactical expert to review safety measures, such as bollards, before upcoming events like the Superbowl and Mardi Gras.