On January 1, 2025, FBI investigators arrived on the scene after a white Ford F-150 pickup truck allegedly struck a group of New Year’s revelers in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, before crashing into a working elevator.
Matthew Hinton | AFP | Getty Images
Investigators in New Orleans are searching for a motive for a U.S. veteran who flew an Islamic State flag from his truck and plowed into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Thursday, killing 15 people and injuring 30 others before dying in a shootout with police.
The investigation focuses on whether the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas who served in Afghanistan, was involved in planning to disrupt next month’s NFL Super Bowl. launch a deadly attack on the city.
FBI officials said they were also looking for a link between the deadly attack and another incident on Wednesday, when a Tesla electric truck was parked in a car just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returned to the White House. An explosion and fire broke out outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
The attack in New Orleans took place in the historic French Quarter just three hours after New Year’s Day and injured about 30 people, including two police officers who were shot by a suspect.
This undated handout image released by the FBI on January 1, 2025 shows a photo of late New Orleans attack suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar.
– |AFP|Getty Images
The victims included a mother of 4 who had just moved into a new apartment after a promotion at work; a New York finance employee and elite student-athlete who was home for the holidays; and an 18-year-old teen. an aspiring senior nurse.
Witnesses described horrific scenes.
“There are people everywhere,” Kimberly Strickland of Mobile, Alabama, said in an interview. “All you could hear was this scream, the revving of the engine and a huge crash, and then people screaming and debris – just metal – the crunching of metal and bodies.”
Meanwhile, authorities have vowed to continue looking for any evidence of Jabbar’s complicity.
A New Year’s Day tradition – the classic college football game known as the Sugar Bowl – has been rescheduled for Thursday afternoon. Kickoff for the game between Notre Dame and Georgia was delayed nearly 24 hours as police swept parts of the city looking for possible explosive devices and gathered in neighborhoods looking for clues.
The city will also host the NFL Super Bowl on February 9.
Police found weapons and a potential explosive device in the car, while two potential explosive devices were found and secured in the French Quarter, the FBI said.
islamic state flag
The FBI said a worker with an Islamic State flag hanging from the trailer hitch of a rental vehicle prompted an investigation into possible ties to the terror group.
U.S. President Joe Biden condemned what he called “despicable” behavior and said investigators were looking into whether it was related to a Tesla truck fire outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. The president and the FBI say so far there is no evidence that the two incidents are related.
Public records show Kareem worked in real estate in Houston. In a promotional video released four years ago, Kareem described himself as born and raised in Beaumont, a city about 80 miles (130 kilometers) east of Houston.
New Orleans attack suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar is seen in this photo obtained from social media and posted in November 2013 in Johnson, Louisiana, USA Fort (formerly Fort Polk), 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Facebook.
1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division | Reuters
An Army spokesman said Jabbar served in the regular Army from March 2007 to January 2015, and then in the Army Reserve from January 2015 to July 2020. He was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, reaching the rank of staff sergeant at the end of his tour of duty.
CNN (CNN) cited officials familiar with the investigation as saying the suspect recorded videos in which he mentioned his dream of joining the Islamic State and that he had considered killing his family after a divorce.
The Islamic State – also known as ISIS or ISIS – is a Muslim militant group that unleashed a reign of terror on millions of people in Iraq and Syria until it collapsed after a sustained military campaign by the U.S.-led coalition.
Experts say that even as the Islamic State’s capabilities on the ground have been weakened, it continues to recruit sympathizers online.
Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said: “This was not just an act of terrorism, this was evil.”
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