New Orleans remains in turmoil Friday, the third day since the truck-ram attack killed 14 people, as well as the suspected terrorist killed in a shootout with police early on New Year’s Day.
The FBI released eerie new surveillance footage Thursday showing the now-deceased suspect — 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar — about an hour before he allegedly sped a rented Ford pickup through a crowd of Bourbon Street revelers at the attack that took place. officials say it was inspired by the Islamic State. More than thirty others were injured. Despite earlier investigations into possible accomplices in the attack, the FBI said Thursday that the bureau is confident Jabbar acted alone.
The investigation now focused on how Jabbar – a US Army veteran who recently held a six-figure job – became radicalized. He grew up Muslim in Texas and most recently lived in Houston.
“This investigation is just over 24 hours old and we have no evidence at this time that anyone other than Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar was involved in this attack,” said FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia of the Counterterrorism Division at the FBI. The head office announced this on Thursday. “The FBI is sending people and resources into this area from across the region and across the country. Special agents in field offices across the country are assisting with possible aspects of this investigation and following up on leads. Additional teams of special agents, professional staff and victim specialists continue to arrive to provide increased investigative power and assistance to victims and their families.
“Let’s be very clear: what happened here in New Orleans was an act of terror. It was premeditated and an evil act,” he added.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT VICTIMS OF THE NEW ORLEANS TERRORIST ATTACK
The surveillance footage released by the FBI shows Jabbar, smartly dressed in a long tan coat, dark button-down shirt, jeans and brown dress shoes, walking along Dauphine St., near Governor Nicholls St., at 2:03 a.m. CST – approximately an hour before the attack. Additional footage showed coolers that Jabbar allegedly placed on the street. Officials said he planted improvised explosive devices inside with the intention of causing more bloodshed.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released surveillance photos showing Shamsud-Din Jabbar an hour before he drove a truck down Bourbon Street, New Orleans early on January 1, 2025. (Federal Investigation Agency via AP)
Federal authorities also searched an Airbnb property in New Orleans rented by Jabbar that caught fire early Wednesday morning Jabbar’s house in Houston.
Bourbon Street – famous worldwide for its music, open-air drinking and festive atmosphere – reopened for business early Thursday afternoon.
The Sugar Bowl college football game between Notre Dame and Georgia, which was postponed by a day in the interest of national security, was played on Thursday evening. The Joan of Arc parade in the French Quarter will still take place Monday to kick off the carnival season ahead of Mardi Gras, said Antoinette de Alteriis, one of the organizers. She said they are expecting close to the typical crowd of about 30,000 participants.
The FBI has continued to search for clues about Jabbar, but a day after the investigation the agency said it was confident he was not aided by anyone else in the attack, which involved an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother. life came. including father of two children and former Princeton University football star.
The FBI said Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas, posted five videos to his Facebook account hours before the attack expressing his support for the Islamic State group and previewing the violence he would soon unleash in the famed French Quarter -district. . It was the deadliest IS-inspired attack on US soil in years, with federal officials warning it is a reemerging international terrorism threat.
It also comes as the FBI and other agencies brace for dramatic changes in leadership and likely policy shifts after Donald Trump’s newly elected administration takes power.
BOMB MAKING MATERIALS FOUND AT NEW ORLEANS AIRBNB, POSSIBLY TIED TO BOURBON STREET TERRORIST: REPORT
Raia emphasized that there is no evidence of a link between the attack in New Orleans and Wednesday’s explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck filled with explosives outside Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas.
The attack plans in New Orleans also include planting crude bombs nearby in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage, officials said. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were made safe at the scene. Other devices were determined to be non-functional.
Investigators also sought to understand more about Jabbar’s path to radicalization, which they say culminated in him picking up a rented truck in Houston on Dec. 30 and driving it to New Orleans the next night.
The FBI recovered a black ISIS flag from Jabbar’s rented pickup truck and reviewed five videos posted to Facebook, including one in which he said he originally intended to harm his family and friends but ended up worried that news headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and the unbelievers,” Raia said. Jabbar also stated that he had joined ISIS before last summer and had made a will, the FBI said.
Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, served on active duty in human resources and information technology and deployed to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said.
He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.
A half-brother of Jabbar told Fox News that the alleged attacker from New Orleans had been radicalized and was struggling to find himself.
Fox News spoke with Abdur Rahim-Jabbar in Beaumont, Texas, where they grew up with three additional siblings.
Abdur said they grew up Muslim, along with his entire family. He said Jabbar distanced himself from Islam but found his way back after his divorce in 2022.
Jabbar struggled to find himself his entire life, his half-brother told Fox News. He said his half-brother joined the military to “find something, straighten him out, keep him grounded and maybe find a viable career path.”
After Jabbar’s two divorces, his brother said he was “looking for some kind of guidance.” His half-brother blamed radicalization for the attack, saying he had seen no signs prior to the attack, and expressed condolences for the lives lost. He said this was “not a direct reflection on his brother and the Muslim community.”
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A U.S. government official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity that Jabbar traveled to Egypt in 2023, staying in Cairo for a week before returning to the U.S. and then traveling to Toronto for three days. It was not immediately clear what he did during those trips.
On Bourbon Street, flowers and candles were arranged as memorials to the victims, while yellow posts were placed on surrounding blocks. Thursday night, bouncers danced to music blasting from clubs, tourists posed for photos and a group of street performers preparing to turn a line of people had no trouble drawing a huge crowd.
Brooke Taylor of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
