NEW ORLEANS – Two New Orleans PD officers injured in the Jan. 1 terrorist attack on Bourbon Street that killed 15 people, including gunman Shamsud-Din Jabbar, are recovering after heroically neutralizing the ISIS-motivated assailant, according to their attorney.
NOPD officers fatally shot Jabbar after he drove an electric Ford F-150 pickup truck through a New Year’s Eve rush hour around 3:15 a.m. on Jan. 1, killing 14 civilians and opening fire on police in the act terror motivated by Islamic extremism.
“Both are expected to make a full recovery,” NOPD attorney Eric Hessler, a former NOPD officer, told Fox News Digital.
The two officers, whose identities have not yet been released, were on their way to an unrelated call early New Year’s morning when “a vehicle just flew past them and hit the crane,” Hessler said.
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Authorities patrol Bourbon Street as it reopens in New Orleans, Louisiana, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2024. Multiple people are dead and dozens injured after a man crashed his car into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street Wednesday. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
“Within seconds they reacted and started doing what they were trained to do and what the situation required them to do,” Hessler explained.
“They were involved in a very traumatic, stressful series of events that unfolded very quickly.”
Officers immediately began to determine whether or not the vehicle collision was intentional, and when they realized it was more than likely intentional, police drew their weapons to address an active threat.
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Investigators work at the scene after a person drove a vehicle into a crowd earlier at Canal and Bourbon streets in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
“They handled it the right way. They handled it the way they’re trained. And they deal with the consequences, as severe as they are, the way they’re trained,” the lawyer said.
Street camera video from the morning of the attack shows a group of officers standing near Bourbon Street and immediately running toward danger when a call came in about a suspicious vehicle incident.
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Hessler went on to describe the actions of the responding officers as “heroic” and “well thought out.”
“They didn’t have the opportunity to make real tactical decisions with each other. They operated as a team. Some of these men and women had never worked together before,” the lawyer said. “Many were from different jurisdictions. But the individual officers who were closer to the scene, who responded to the threat and eliminated the threat, did everything you would expect of them and more, especially under these circumstances.”
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)
Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI Christopher Raia said Thursday that authorities believe Jabbar acted alone. Officials also located two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at different locations in the French Quarter following the terror attack. They are placed in refrigerators.
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A memorial for those killed in the New Year’s Eve attack on Bourbon Street after the street reopened 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 Bourbon Street in Wednesday. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
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Before his rampage in New Orleans, Jabbar posted several videos on Facebook expressing his support for the Islamic State (ISIS)the FBI said at a news conference Thursday.
Among the victims of the attack identified Thursday were Martin “Tiger” Bech, 27; Drew Dauphin, 26; Nikyra Dedeaux, 18; Nicole Perez, 28; Reggie Hunter, 37; Hubert Gauthreaux, 21; Kareem Bilal Badawi. 18; Matej Tenedorio, 25; Billy DiMaio, 25; and Terrence Kennedy, 63.
