HOUSTON — The terrorist who drove a truck out of control on New Orleans’ busy Bourbon Street, killing 15 people, was an American-born military veteran who lived in a dilapidated trailer park where he kept sheep and goats in his yard. local mosque.
Authorities say Shamsuddin Jabbar, 42, of Houston, wrapped an ISIS flag around the Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck he rented to carry out a planned terrorist attack on New Year’s Day.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar is an American-born military veteran whose success led him to a scrappy Houston trailer park where sheep roam the yard.
He served in the Army for more than a decade and was deployed to Afghanistan before carrying out the ISIS-inspired attack on Wednesday, according to his service record.
He served as an IT specialist and was stationed in Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, the Army branch said in a summary of his military experience.
Jabbar served on active duty from March 2007 to January 2015, and was in the reserves from January 2015 to July 2020.
He retired with the rank of sergeant, according to the Army.
Follow the latest updates on the Bourbon Street terrorist attack in New Orleans.
In a YouTube video he posted in 2020 for his real estate business, the clean-cut Jabbar describes himself as a dependable Texas native who spent 10 years in the military and learned “the meaning of great service.” He explained.
But when he carried out the deadliest terrorist attack since 9/11, Jabbar was living in a shabby trailer park in a Houston suburb populated mostly by Muslim immigrants.
Geese, chickens and sheep were roaming freely in Jabbar’s garden when The Post visited several hours after the attack.
One neighbor told the Post he only speaks Urdu, Pakistan’s national language.
The area is also within walking distance of the local mosque, Masjid Bilal, but no one answered the phone Wednesday.
Law enforcement officials told the Post they discovered a video in which Mr. Jabbar made references to Islam’s holy book, the Koran.
Mr. Jabbar traveled to Egypt for 10 days last year, officials told the Post.
By midafternoon, federal authorities had swooped in, forced the Post and other journalists from the area, and placed it on lockdown.
Dozens of police vehicles, including military armored trucks, swarmed the neighborhood.
Residents were initially allowed to climb over the fence, but the newspaper heard one staff member telling a family to “take your children and get out” and another commanding them to “raise your hands”. Ta. It was played at high volume over a loudspeaker.
In our brief conversations before lockdown, his neighbors seemed to know little about him.
François Venegas said Jabbar was a “simple person” who didn’t hide who he was, although they occasionally exchanged words on the street.
“(He) was very quiet…just walking around and (he) would just say, ‘Hello,’ ‘Hello,'” Venegas said.
Jabbar has been arrested twice, once in Katy, Texas, in 2002 on a theft charge, and again three years later on a charge of driving without a valid license, according to court records. The New York Times reported.
He has been divorced twice and appears to have been financially ruined by his failed marriages.
Jabbar’s first wife sued him for child support in 2012, according to court records.
During his second divorce in 2022, he racked up more than $16,000 in credit card debt to pay for court fees and a vacation home, according to an email to his ex-wife’s lawyer seen by The Times. He said he was holding.
“I can’t afford the housing costs,” he wrote.
He added that he lost more than $28,000 in the previous year from his real estate business.
His first wife, Nekedra Jabbar, has since remarried, and she and her new husband are cooperating with investigators, Nelson Marsh Sr., the husband’s father, told the New York Post.
