42-year-old A native of Texas pledged allegiance to the terrorist group ISIS and plowed into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street early Wednesday, killing at least 14 and injuring more than 30 others.
The FBI identified the killer as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a twice-divorced military veteran who, despite a lucrative job at a major consulting firm, had a history of financial difficulties and failed to pay child support, records show.
Much of the information was made publicly available at a Thursday press briefing attended by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, Deputy FBI Assistant Director Christopher Raia, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and ATF Special Agent Joshua Jackson.
“Let me get this straight,” Raia told reporters Thursday. “This was an act of terrorism. It was a premeditated and evil act.”
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE VICTIMS OF THE TERRORIST ATTACK IN NEW ORLEANS
Shamsud-Din Jabbar shown in an undated photo released by the FBI after he drove his pickup truck down Bourbon Street in New Orleans and died in a shootout with responding officers. (FBI)
Anyone with information about the attack or Jabbar, or those who were on Bourbon Street on New Year’s Eve, is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Tips, including photos and videos, can also be submitted online.
Here’s a timeline of the event:
Monday, December 30, 2024
Jabbar was picking up a Ford F-150 EV for rent in Houston, according to authorities.
He used the Turo app to get a vehicle, same application authorities say it was used in a separate EV explosion in Las Vegas, Nevada, where a Tesla Cybertruck exploded at the front door of the Trump Hotel.
Raia said the FBI had not found “any definitive link” between the two attacks, but noted it was “very early” in the investigation. Both Jabbar and the man involved in the blast, Matthew Livelsberger, served in the military and were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009.
Both were also stationed at Fort Liberty, however, investigators said there was no known overlap in their assignments at the North Carolina base, which currently has more than 50,000 servicemen and women stationed there. It was also not immediately clear if they were deployed in the same region of Afghanistan.
Suspect identified as FBI INVESTIGATES ACT OF TERRORISM AFTER BOURBON STREET ATTACK
New Orleans police and federal agents are investigating an alleged terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, January 1, 2025. (Chris Granger/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)
Jabbar explains that he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was worried that the news headlines wouldn’t focus on, quote, ‘a war between believers and unbelievers.’
Tuesday, December 31
Jabbar drove from Houston to New Orleans – about 350 miles.
During the trip, he posted five videos about the attack and his motive on FacebookRaia said.
In the first video, posted at 1:29 a.m., Jabbar revealed that he had changed plans to try to draw as much attention to the crime as possible.
Investigators block off Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2024. Multiple people are dead and dozens injured after a man drove his car into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Wednesday. (Audrey Conklin/Fox News Digital)
“Jabbar explains that he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned that the news headlines wouldn’t focus on, quote, ‘a war between believers and unbelievers,'” Raia said.
Jabbar’s last video was posted at 3:02 am
“In addition, he stated that he joined ISIS before this summer,” Raia said. “He also enclosed a will.”
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
At some point before the attack, within “approximately a few hours,” Jabbar planted at least two IEDs in the area, according to Raija.
Then, at 3:17 a.m., Jabbar swerved around a police car at the end of Bourbon Street and sped toward a crowd of pedestrians, New Orleans Police he said.
At least 14 people were killed in the attack, and Jabbar died in a shootout with police after the truck collided.
INVESTIGATION CONTINUES, FBI SAYS NO OTHER SUSPECTS
More than 30 other people were injured.
Investigators search a rental home used by Shamsud-Din Jabbar in New Orleans, Louisiana, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2024. Multiple people are dead and dozens injured after Jabbar drove his car into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street in Wednesday. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
Police found an Islamic State flag in Jabbar’s truck, at least three cellphones and other devices. He planted two IEDs hidden in refrigerators along Bourbon Street and authorities were able to safely disarm them.
The FBI immediately took the lead in the investigation, city police said.
Later in the day, the FBI identified Jabbar as the suspect and released a photo. Other photos from the scene appear to show an ISIS flag mounted on the truck’s trailer hitch.
Federal investigators wanted to talk to anyone who was in the area before, during and after the attack.
“We want to talk to anyone who was in the French Quarter on New Year’s Eve or early New Year’s Day,” Raia said. “That includes people spotted near one of the two IEDs on Bourbon Street. The IED was inside a refrigerator and maybe the people stopped and looked at the refrigerator and then continued on their way.”
Investigators continue to block Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2024. Multiple people are dead and dozens injured after a man drove his car into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Wednesday. (Audrey Conklin/Fox News Digital)
He said they were “in no way” considered suspects.
An Airbnb that may be connected to the gunman burst into flames around 5:30 a.m., according to New Orleans FOX 8. Investigators said they later found bomb-making material inside. Raia acknowledged that the FBI is searching the Mandeville home for evidence related to the case.
“Our working theory now is that the fire started after Jabar was already dead,” ATF Special Agent Joshua Jackson later told reporters.
He said investigators are still looking into the cause.
OFFICIALS POSTPONE SUGAR BOWL DUE TO APPARENT TERRORIST ATTACK ON BOURBON STREET
Thursday, January 2
Authorities continued to release additional details about the gunman and search homes in Houston and New Orleans.
After speaking with congressional representatives, the FBI revealed that it had no intelligence on Jabbar prior to the attack.
“The FBI said on the call that they had no knowledge of Jabbar – he was not on their radar,” Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee who was on the call, told Fox News. “They didn’t have any information on him. He wasn’t someone they were watching. And I think that’s incredibly scary because we’ve always heard about sleeper cells that exist in our country.”
Aerial image of the New Orleans attack suspect’s home in Houston, Texas. (GUILTY)
Before the attack, Jabbar served in the US Army. He was a human resources specialist and computer scientist from March 2007 to 2015. He then continued as a computer scientist in the Reserves of the Armed Forces until July 2020.
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Most recently, he worked for Deloitte, a large international accounting firm.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Liz Friden, Brooke Curto, Jennifer Griffin, Aishah Hasnie and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
