New Orleans attack: Everything we know about suspect Shamsud Din Jabbar
2 January 2025, 08:44 | Updated: 2 January 2025, 15:38
Fifteen people have died and at least 35 injured after a man drove into a large crowd in New Orleans, Louisiana, in what is being treated as a terrorist incident.
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The attack took place at around 3:15 a.m. US time on Wednesday, with New Year's revellers targetted on Bourbon Street, located in New Orleans' French Quarter.
The suspect behind the attack drove directly at crowds of revellers before exiting his pick-up truck and opening fire on the public.
He was identified as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, a US citizen from Texas and US army veteran.
Jabbar was in a Ford pick-up truck, rented using the same Turo rental app used by a Cybertruck bomber in Las Vegas hours later.
The FBI has now said the suspect was fatally shot after exiting his video and opening fire on the public, later engaging in a gunfight with police.
President Biden said Jabbar expressed a “desire to kill” in videos posted on social media.
Read More: Tesla Cybertruck explodes outside Trump's Vegas hotel in 'terror attack'
Who was Shamsud-Din Jabbar?
42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabber was an Army veteran and US citizen from Texas.
A flag associated with the Islamic State (IS) group was found in the vehicle he was driving and the FBI said it was investigating what affiliations Jabbar may have had with terrorist groups.
Addressing the nation, President Joe Biden said the FBI had briefed him on the attack.
The suspect uploaded videos to social media "mere hours before the attack" indicating that he was inspired by IS and expressing a "desire to kill", Biden said.
Suspected improvised explosive devices were also found in the area and a long gun with a "suppressive device" on it, acting as a silencer, was also recovered.
According to his LinkedIn profile, which has now been removed, Jabbar was employed in multiple roles in the US Army, such as human resources and IT, having been discharged.
He was sent to Afghanistan between February 2009 and January 2010.
In a YouTube video from 2020, Jabbar said his time in the military had taught him "the meaning of great service and what it means to be responsive and take everything seriously, dotting i's and crossing t's to make sure that things go off without a hitch".
He studied at Georgia State University from 2015 to 2017, graduating with a degree in computer information systems.
He had been married two times, with his first marriage ending in 2012.
His second spanned 2017 to 2022.
He also previously worked in real estate, and had a licence that expired in 2021.
His criminal record related to traffic offences and theft.
The pick-up truck he was driving was electric and believed to have been rented in Texas via an app called Turo.
What was his motive?
The motive behind the mass killing remains unknown.
The FBI said it is investigating the incident “as an act of terrorism.”
In its statement, the agency said: “The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism.”
“Whether it was a terrorist or Joe Blow … from whatever, Louisiana, what they done was horrible. They devastated so many lives,” said Shirell Jackson, 47, the cousin of one of the victims.
Is anyone else responsible?
Jabbar is not believed to be "solely responsible" for the attack.
The FBI assistant special agent in charge, Alethea Duncan, said: "We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates."
The FBI said they believed the suspect had assistance when carrying out his attack, especially when placing suspected explosive devices.
CBS reports that law enforcement has not yet released evidence of those accomplices.
Earlier reports said authorities were reviewing video footage, but CBS reported that the footage had been determined to only show bystanders.
