Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US Army veteran from Texas, was identified as the attacker. Authorities revealed that Jabbar had posted five videos on his Facebook account hours before the assault, pledging allegiance to IS and foreshadowing the carnage he would unleash in the city’s iconic French Quarter.
“This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act,” said Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division. He called Jabbar’s actions “100% inspired” by the Islamic State.
Toll of the rampage
The attack left 14 people dead, including an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a father of two, and a former Princeton University football player. Jabbar himself was killed in a gunfight with police after he plowed his truck into a crowded street, bypassing barricades.
Described as the deadliest IS-inspired attack on US soil in recent years, the incident underscores what federal authorities warn is a re-emerging international terrorism threat. This comes as the FBI braces for potential leadership shifts under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
No broader threat linked to the attack
FBI officials sought to reassure the public, stating that no evidence points to Jabbar having accomplices. Surveillance footage from Bourbon Street showed individuals near an improvised explosive device left by Jabbar, but investigators believe these people were not involved.
“We are confident that Jabbar acted alone,” said Raia, emphasising that there was no link between this attack and a separate Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel on Wednesday.
Path to radicalisation
Investigators are piecing together Jabbar’s trajectory toward extremism. After renting a truck in Houston on December 30, he drove to New Orleans the following day. The FBI recovered a black IS flag from the vehicle and examined videos he posted online.
In one, Jabbar expressed an initial intent to harm family and friends but decided against it, fearing the act would not highlight the “war between the believers and the disbelievers.”
Jabbar, who served in the US Army from 2007 to 2020, deployed to Afghanistan between 2009 and 2010. His younger brother, Abdur-Rahim Jabbar, expressed disbelief at his sibling’s actions.
“It doesn’t feel real,” he said. “It’s completely contradictory to who he was and how his family and friends knew him.”
In the aftermath of the attack, New Orleans began its return to normalcy. Bourbon Street reopened on Thursday afternoon after authorities cleared the scene. The Sugar Bowl college football game between Notre Dame and Georgia, delayed for a day due to security concerns, proceeded as planned.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry sought to reassure residents and visitors. “This is one of the safest places on earth,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that nothing can’t happen.”
With inputs from AP
