Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, has been identified by the FBI as the perpetrator in the harrowing New Orleans attack during the early hours of New Year’s Day
Shamsud-Din Jabbar was shot and killed by officers after murdering 15 people in a harrowing terrorist attack.
The military veteran, 42, ploughed his truck down a crowded New Orleans street in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Jabbar, who was born in Houston, Texas, had an ISIS flag strapped to his rented Ford F-150 Lightning EV truck, and was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and damage that he did”, according to a witness.
Police have described the act as “very intentional”. New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said: “This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could.” Jabbar was also armed and fired on law enforcement, injuring two officers, on the busy Bourbon Street, where revellers were welcoming 2025.
Witness Zion Parsons, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi, said he saw the truck “barrelling through, throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air”. Mr Parsons, whose friend Nikyra Dedeaux was among those people killed, said: “Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering.”
It has since emerged that Jabbar lived in a run-down caravan park in Houston where he kept sheep, geese and goats. The community mostly houses Muslim immigrants, the New York Post reports. A neighbour told the paper Jabbar was a “simple person” who kept to himself. They said: “[He was] pretty quiet…Just walking, [he would say] ‘hello,’ ‘hola,’ and that was it.”
The terrorist was reportedly twice divorced and worked as an IT specialist. He served in the Army for more than a decade and was deployed to Afghanistan, stationed there from February 2009 to January 2010. His service record details extensive military experience, eventually becoming staff sergeant when he left the military.
Images taken during his time there show a studious Jabbar deep in concentration as he works on a computer, a skill he would later deploy as an IT specialist. Having studied at Georgia State University and graduated with a degree in computer information systems, Jabbar developed a vast knowledge of software.
He also tried to enlist in the Navy in 2004, but never began training. A Navy spokesperson said: “Our records show that a Shamsuddin Bahar Jabbar enlisted on 12 August 2004, in Navy Recruiting District Houston and was discharged from the Delayed Entry Programme one month later on 13 September 2004. He did not go to Recruit Training Command. The DOB matches. Because he did not serve in the navy, there is no additional information to add to the attached biography.”
Jabbar is known to have appeared in a YouTube video in 2020, promoting his real estate business. In the footage, he said his time in the military had taught him “the meaning of great service and what it means to be responsive and take everything seriously, dotting i’s and crossing t’s to make sure that things go off without a hitch”.
He had three children and was sued for child support payments in 2012. It is understood he had previously been arrested twice, once in Texas in 2002 for theft, and another three years later for driving without a valid licence. Amid his second divorce in 2022, he had racked up more than $16,000 (£12,700) in credit card debt paying court fees and expenses for a second home.
Law enforcement sources told CNN that Jabbar made a series of videos, which are being reviewed by officials, before the terror attack. The recordings appear to have been made while driving at night. CNN reports that the sinister footage makes reference to his divorce and that he planned on getting his family together for a fake celebration to kill them.
He is also said to have talked about how he joined ISIS and his dreams of becoming part of the terrorist group. His brother, Abdur Jabbar, 24, told The New York Times: “[He was] a sweetheart really, a nice guy, a friend, really smart, caring.” He said Jabbar had converted to Islam at a young age, and “what he did does not represent Islam”.
The terror attack – one of the deadliest since 9/11 – has rocked the US. It happened on Bourbon Street, known for its vibrant nightlife and ample restaurants, bars and clubs with live music. Investigators there found multiple improvised explosives, including two pipe bombs that were concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.
The bulletin, relying on preliminary information gathered soon after the attack, also cited surveillance footage that it said showed three men and a woman placing one of the devices, but federal officials did not immediately confirm that detail and it wasn’t clear who they were or what connection they had to the attack, if any.
