At least 15 people were killed and more than 30 injured when a car displaying an Islamic State (IS) flag plowed into a crowd in a tourist area of New Orleans in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
According to the FBI, Shamsuddin Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas, drove his Ford pickup truck into a crowd of revelers on New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m. I drove. He then got out of his car and opened fire on police, wounding two people before police shot him dead.
Jabbar’s truck appears to have been rented, and investigators are trying to determine how Jabbar came into possession of it, the FBI said. In addition to finding an Islamic State flag in the background, investigators found weapons and a “potential” improvised explosive device.
A bulletin distributed to law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation said at least two improvised explosive devices were planted relatively nearby but did not detonate.
In brief remarks Wednesday night, Joe Biden said that “hours before the attack,” the suspect “posted a video on social media showing him expressing a desire to kill, inspired by the Islamic State.” The FBI said it discovered that.
Biden said the investigation was still in its preliminary stages and the situation was “fluid.”
Biden said law enforcement continues to investigate any connections, connections and co-conspirators. He said investigators are also looking into the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas, and are looking into a possible connection to the New Orleans attack.
The FBI said early Wednesday that it was “working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism.”
“It was a very deliberate act. This man was trying to run over as many people as possible,” New Orleans Police Superintendent Ann Kirkpatrick said at a news conference Wednesday morning. I was desperate.”
The suspect managed to drive a white pickup truck between the 100 and 400 blocks of Bourbon Street in the lower French Quarter, which was crowded with people celebrating New Year’s Eve. This area is a popular night spot for tourists and locals alike.
After driving his truck into the crowd, the gunman, wearing a bulletproof vest as well as a helmet, fired a rifle from the vehicle. The man then jumped out of the truck and fired at police, according to preliminary reports.
About 30 minutes after the suspect was shot, investigators found an ice chest left near a police cruiser at the corner of Bourbon and Orleans streets, about three blocks from the scene of the attack, the newspaper reported. They found a pipe bomb with a nail attached to it and what appeared to be C4 explosives. Ended.
The second device was found about a block away from the first. Investigators found a third possible device inside a purple suitcase near the corner of North Rampart Street and Esplanade Avenue toward the upper end of the French Quarter.
Two of the devices were confirmed to be pipe bombs hidden inside coolers wired for remote detonation, the bulletin said. Investigators found a matching remote control in Jabbar’s truck, which also contained a mason jar containing a clear liquid consistent with explosives.
Officers determined the fourth possible device was not an explosive.
On Wednesday morning, a short-term rental home associated with Jabbar caught fire in New Orleans’ St. Roch neighborhood, less than three miles from the scene of the attack.
The newspaper said officers arrived and found the house had been deliberately set on fire, and after firefighters brought the blaze under control, they found bomb-making materials inside.
“The individuals who were renting the home were using the home for that purpose,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.
The FBI said Wednesday that it does not believe Mr. Jabbar was “solely responsible” for the deadly attack and asked for the public’s help in tracking down those responsible.
Surveillance camera footage showed three men and a woman planting an explosive device, the bulletin said. But CNN later reported that investigators had ruled out those people having anything to do with installing the devices.
Meanwhile, attention is focused on a second vehicle that was close to the attack. According to an intelligence bulletin, surveillance cameras owned by the New Orleans city government identified one vehicle in particular that was tracking the truck in which Jabbar carried out the attack. According to preliminary reports, both the truck and its second vehicle had something in common: Each vehicle was owned by a Texas resident who previously lived in the New Orleans suburb of Harvey, and both vehicles were rented. That’s what it means. The newspaper said police rushed to Harvey’s owner’s address but were unable to find him. ABC News reported that it spoke with the owner and he spoke with the FBI.
Houston news station KPRC2 reported drone footage showing a man at a residence associated with Jabbar surrendering to authorities. Earlier, the FBI announced that investigators in Houston were “conducting law enforcement operations” in areas north of the city in connection with the New Orleans attack.
Jabbar served in the U.S. military for 13 years, military officials said. He served as a human resources specialist and information technology specialist from 2007 to 2015. He then joined the Army Reserve as an IT specialist and served until 2020, including as a sergeant, Army officials said. He was also deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010.
Jabbar joined the Navy in August 2004 before his military service, but was discharged a month later, a Navy official told Reuters. NBC reported that he did not serve in the military because he did not participate in Navy recruit training.
In a social media video promoting the real estate business he worked in after leaving the military, Jabbar said he grew up in Beaumont, Texas, about an hour east of Houston, and spent most of his life there before joining the military. .
In the video, he said his military experience made him a “fierce negotiator” with real estate clients and others.
Jabbar attended Georgia State University from 2015 to 2017 and graduated with a degree in computer information systems, school officials told Atlanta News First. Corporate records show Mr. Jabbar has been involved in a series of real estate ventures in recent years.
Consulting firm Deloitte said in a statement that Jabbar had “held staff-level roles” at the firm since being hired in 2021.
Deloitte said in a statement: “We are shocked to learn today that the person identified as the suspect had some connection to our company.” “Like you, we are outraged by this shameful and senseless act of violence and are doing everything in our power to assist authorities with their investigation.”
Online Texas criminal court records show Jabbar has committed relatively minor offenses in the past, including misdemeanor theft and driving with an invalid license prior to his military service.
The New York Times reported that he has been divorced twice. Then, in 2022, during her second divorce, he reportedly wrote an email complaining that he needed to settle the divorce because he couldn’t afford to pay for the house otherwise.
The Times reported that it had spoken to Nekedra Chaar, the new husband of Jabbar’s second ex-wife. Charl’s husband, Dwayne Marsh, said Jabbar, who had two daughters with Charl, converted to Islam at some point and had recently been doing “crazy things, like cutting her hair.” It is said that it has started. Marsh said she and Charl eventually stopped allowing their daughters, ages 15 and 20, to spend time with Jabbar, and each of them was “confused” after the attack.
The New Orleans coroner said in an evening update that the death toll from Wednesday’s attack was at least 15.
Local media identified the first known dead person as Nikila Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18, who had traveled to New Orleans from near Gulfport, Mississippi, with her cousin and friend. Reggie Hunter, 37, father of two from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Tiger Beck is a 27-year-old former football player from Lafayette, Louisiana. The fourth victim, named Nicole Perez, 28, a mother and delicatessen manager from Metairie, Louisiana, was celebrating the New Year with friends.
The New Orleans Police Chief said the two officers who were shot were in stable condition at the University of New Orleans Medical Center. The police chief said most of the injured appeared to be local residents rather than visitors.
As the sun began to rise over the city on New Year’s Day, law enforcement from many agencies swarmed the city’s French Quarter. A large portion of Bourbon Street was closed off as police searched for secondary devices.
For years, the New Orleans government has used bollards intended to prevent drivers from traveling down Bourbon Street during particularly busy times, including major holidays such as New Year’s. However, those bollards were down for repairs at the time of Wednesday morning’s attack.
Dozens of city police vehicles lined the street at the intersection of Bourbon Street and Canal Street, usually busy with tourists. Yellow police tape was wrapped around Main Street, and three white vans from the parish coroner’s office were parked side by side near the scene of the attack.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said he was asleep in his nearby home when the attack began, but was woken up by “screams of terror” and cries of “no!”.
Jay McGuffey, 28, was visiting the city from Mississippi and told the Guardian he was at a nightclub on Bourbon Street when the incident occurred.
“We were celebrating the New Year and just having fun, and then they told us to leave because someone had been shot. Then a truck came through here and 15 people were shot. I heard he was shot,” McGuffey said.
The witness added that he was not allowed to enter the hotel because the body was still on the ground. “How did this happen? There are about 100 police officers here,” she said.
Security camera footage directed toward Canal Street showed the truck at the center of Wednesday’s attack approaching Bourbon Street, which was blocked off by a police patrol cruiser. Video circulating late Wednesday shows the truck swerving, swerving in front of the cruiser, climbing onto the sidewalk, speeding down Bourbon Street and appearing to hit people before disappearing from camera view.
CNN quoted witness Kevin Garcia, 22, as saying, “All I saw was a truck plowing into people on the left side of the sidewalk in Bourbon.
“A dead body was flying towards me,” he said, adding that he also heard gunshots.
New Orleans has postponed the Sugar Bowl, a major college football game between the University of Georgia and the University of Notre Dame, originally scheduled for Wednesday night, to Thursday. The city is also preparing to host the NFL’s Super Bowl on February 9th.
The city hosted a parade Tuesday ahead of the Sugar Bowl, but the New Orleans Police Department announced there would be “100%” staffing during the festivities, according to CNN.
