The driver behind the deadly New Year’s terrorist attack in New Orleans posted videos online proclaiming his support for the Islamic State terrorist group before he rammed his truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street, killing at least 14, the FBI said Thursday.
As Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, made his way to Louisiana from his home in Texas on New Year’s Eve, he gave his social media followers a glimpse of his violent plan and radical thinking, Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, said at a briefing.
According to Raia, Jabbar said in a series of Facebook videos posted shortly before the attack that he had originally planned to hurt his family and friends but pivoted when he grew concerned that news headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers.”
“This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act,” Raia said, adding that Jabbar acted alone. “He was 100% inspired by ISIS.”
Investigators believe Jabbar, an Army veteran, picked up his rented white Ford truck in Houston on Monday and headed for New Orleans the next evening.
In the hours before the attack, he posted five Facebook videos from about 1:30 a.m. to just after 3 a.m., in which he says he joined ISIS before this summer, Raia said. Jabbar, whom police shot and killed, also provided a will and testament, Raia said.
Instead of targeting his family, Jabbar set his sights on historic Bourbon Street, though Raia said authorities do not yet fully understand why. The popular tourist area in the French Quarter, which is filled with bars and restaurants, was expected to be busy on New Year’s Eve.
Security video shows Jabbar placing a cooler with an improvised explosive device on Bourbon Street and another one about two blocks away, Raia said. The devices did not detonate and were later rendered safe.
The bombs, taped inside the coolers, were made of galvanized pipe with end caps, and they contained nails inside them, according to two senior U.S. law enforcement officials.
The devices had receivers for remote firing, the officials said. It is not immediately clear whether Jabbar ever tried to detonate them or they malfunctioned or what his plan was with him.
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“We’re confident at this point that he had no accomplices,” Raia said.
Early Wednesday, with a black ISIS flag affixed to the hitch of the Ford F-150 Lightning truck, Jabbar drove onto the sidewalk and around a “hard target,” which included officers, barriers and a car.
He plowed into a crowd of revelers, killing at least 14 and wounding at least 35, Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said Wednesday.
Jabbar died in a gunfight with police officers, officials said. He shot two officers, who were stable.
Raia said the FBI has received more than 400 tips from the public, which came from New Orleans and other parts of the country, as he urged more people who had any interaction with Jabbar to come forward.
“We are looking in everything in his life,” he said. “Whether you know Jabbar personally, worked with him, served in the military or saw him in New Orleans or Texas, we need to talk to you.”
The FBI recovered three cellphones and two laptops linked to Jabbar, Raia said, adding that investigators were working to determine the content of the devices.
Jabbar served in the Army on active duty from 2006 to 2015 and then in the Army Reserve from 2015 to 2020, according to three U.S. defense officials. He had deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and was a staff sergeant when he was honorably discharged in 2020, the officials said.
Jabbar had been working for the professional services giant Deloitte in a staff-level role since 2021, the company confirmed. He attended Georgia State University from 2015 to 2017 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in computer information systems, a university spokesperson said.
Civil records show Jabbar was married twice, with his first marriage ending in 2012 and his second in 2022.
A woman who identified herself as Jabbar’s sister-in-law and asked to not be named said relatives in Texas were in shock when they heard the news.
It makes “no sense,” she told NBC News on Wednesday. “He’s the nicest person I’ve ever known.”
“I really don’t know what happened,” she added. “He was a good man. He takes care of his children and everything.”
