NEW ORLEANS— Early on New Year’s Day, a driver in a white truck crashed into a crowd on Bourbon Street, resulting in at least 15 deaths and 30 injuries before being shot by police. Authorities are investigating the incident as both a terrorist attack and a crime scene.
Investigators named Shamsud Din Jabbar as the suspect who drove his vehicle into people celebrating the holiday.
According to three U.S. defense officials, Jabbar, 42, served on active duty in the Army from 2006 to 2015 and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” police superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters. “He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
The incident led to 15 deaths and 30 injuries, and emergency services took the injured to various hospitals in the city.
Later on, a bomb was discovered at the scene. Officials have advised people to stay away from the area while the investigation is ongoing.
FBI special agent Alethea Duncan stated in a news conference that a black ISIS flag was attached to the truck’s rear bumper, which, according to officials, was a rented electric Ford pickup truck.
New Orleans police are investigating surveillance footage indicating multiple individuals were involved in planting potential explosives before the vehicle attack, suggesting the Jabbar may not be the only one responsible. Investigators are actively trying to identify and apprehend those seen in the video.
“We’re aggressively running down all of the leads to identify this, the possible subjects, associates, we’re working to ensure that there is no further threat,” Duncan told reporters.
Jabbar served in the Army from 2006 to 2015 and the Army Reserves until 2020, deployed to Afghanistan in 2009. He tried to join the Navy in 2004 without completing training and has prior misdemeanor charges in Texas. He was married twice, with his first marriage ending in 2012, and initiated a second divorce in 2021.
Authorities are working to confirm there is no more danger.
