At least fifteen people were killed after a man drove a vehicle into a large crowd who were ringing in the new year in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Police said that the victims were mostly New Orleans locals, though there were many tourists in the area at the time for the Sugar Bowl and New Year celebrations.
How the Attack Unfolded
At approximately 3:15 a.m. local time, a large pick-up truck drove into a large crowd on Bourbon Street.
Video surveillance footage shows a white Ford F-150 Lightning running over the pavement to get around a police vehicle before ramming into pedestrians.
Officials described the attack as ‘very intentional’ and added that the attacker was ‘hell-bent on creating massive damage and carnage’.
The attacker was also armed and injured two law enforcement officers. He was eventually shot and killed by police.
One witness, Whit Davis, who fled to a bar as officials secured the area, said there were ‘injured and dead bodies all over the street’ when they left.
Who Was the Attacker?
The attacker was identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Army veteran who was born in Texas.
Officials believe the vehicle he drove during the attack was rented via an app called Turo.
According to Jabbar’s now-deleted LinkedIn profile, he worked in IT and human resrouces in the US Army before being discharged. He was also in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010.
In a Youtube video uploaded in 2020, Jabbar claimed his time in the US Army taught him ‘how to take everything seriously as well as the meaning of great service’.
From 2015 to 2017, he attended George State University and later graduated with a degree in computer information systems.
He subsequently worked for accountancy firms Deloitte and Ernst & Young.
Jabber was married three times and has children from his first two marriages. He was most recently married in 2017 and divorced in 2022.
According to court documents from his most recent divorce, Jabbar had been experiencing financial difficulties with child support and his monthly expenses.
Separate records show that his former wife had also obtained a restraining order against him and had accused him of financial mismanagement.
Jabbar also had a criminal record, relating to theft and traffic violations.
He Acted Alone
Officials initially looked into the possibility that he had accomplices but have since confirmed that he acted alone.
Christopher Raia, the FBI deputy assistant director, said at a news conference that the pick-up truck Jabbar was driving had a hidden ISIS flag and suggests he may have had affiliations with terrorist groups.
Jabbar had also uploaded videos to social media hours before the attack, espressing his ‘desire to kill’ and that he was ‘inspired by ISIS’.
