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NEW ORLEANS (NewsNation) — The FBI says a 42-year-old man was responsible for the New Year’s attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar identified as suspect
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S.-born citizen from Beaumont, Texas, was shot and killed by police after crashing into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street at 3:15 a.m.
Investigators recovered a handgun and AR-style rifle after the shootout, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
The FBI said an Islamic State group flag was recovered in the suspect’s vehicle. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were found in the vehicle and the French Quarter, and two of them were “rendered safe,” according to the FBI.
The FBI said that Jabbar picked up a rented Ford truck in Texas on Monday and drove between Houston and New Orleans on New Year’s Eve. Investigators said that during his drive to New Orleans, Jabbar posted five videos on social media pledging his support to ISIS.
Christopher Raia from the FBI’s counterterrorism group said at a news conference on Thursday that the videos were time-stamped beginning at 1:29 a.m. and ending at 3:02 a.m.
Raia said that Jabbar said in the first video that he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned that the news headlines would not focus on the war “between the believers and the disbelievers”.
Jabbari posted that he joined ISIS before the summer of 2024 and provided a last will and testimony. He was in Cairo, Egypt, this summer. The FBI said he visited the city twice before the attack and recorded video of the French Quarter with hands-free glasses, an FBI official said Sunday.
Guns and pipe bombs were found in the suspect’s vehicle, according to a Louisiana State Police bulletin. The devices were concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation with a remote control that also was found in the vehicle, the bulletin said.
A photo circulated among law enforcement officials showed a bearded Jabbar wearing camouflage next to the truck after he was killed. The intelligence bulletin obtained by the AP said he was wearing a ballistic vest and helmet. Investigators said on Thursday that there is no evidence that Jabbar was wearing a suicide vest at the time of the attack.
However, officials said that Jabbar “specifically picked out” Bourbon Street. Investigators believe he did so because he knew the street would be heavily populated with people on New Year’s Eve.
Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said officials were investigating the discovery of at least one suspected IED at the scene.
FBI believes Jabbar acted alone
The FBI said at a news conference on Thursday that there was no evidence to suggest others aided Jabbar in carrying out the attack, a point they reiterated on Jan. 5.
The FBI said it recovered three cell phones and two laptops and is in the process of reviewing data on those devices. However, investigators did not find evidence in call logs of Jabbar communicating with anyone else about the New Year’s Day attack.
The FBI is investigating the crash as an act of terrorism.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s military experience
Before serving in the Army, Jabbar enlisted in the Navy in August 2004 under a delayed entry program but was discharged a month later, a Navy official told NewsNation.
Jabbar was part of the regular Army from March 2007 to January 2015 as a human resource specialist (42A) and information technology specialist (25B) before transitioning to the Army Reserve as an IT specialist from January 2015 to July 2020, an Army spokesperson told NewsNation.
He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010 and held the rank of staff sergeant at the time of his discharge, according to the spokesperson.
Divorce records reveal Jabbar’s finances
Court records show Jabbar faced a deteriorating financial situation in 2022 while separating from his then-wife. Jabbar said he was $27,000 behind on house payments, accumulated $16,000 in credit card debt and wanted to quickly finalize the divorce, AP reported.
“I have exhausted all means of bringing the loan current other than a loan modification, leaving us no alternative but to sell the house or allow it to go into foreclosure,” he wrote in an email to his now-ex-wife’s attorney.
His businesses were struggling, too. One, Blue Meadow Properties LLC, lost about $28,000 over the previous year. Two others he started, Jabbar Real Estate Holdings LLC and BDQ L3C, weren’t worth anything.
The divorce was approved in September 2024.
At the time, court documents show he made about $10,000 a month doing business development and other work for the consulting firm Deloitte. In a statement, Deloitte said Jabbar had “served in a staff-level role” since being hired in 2021 and that the company was doing all it could to assist authorities, AP reported.
In a promotional video for a real estate business posted to YouTube in 2020, a man with the same name as the suspect said his time in the military had taught him the importance of great service and taking everything seriously, Reuters reported.
“I’ve taken those skills and applied them to my career as a real estate agent, where I feel like what really sets me apart from other agents is my ability to be able to be a fierce negotiator,” he said, encouraging clients to give him a call.
In the video, the man introduced himself as a manager at Blue Meadow Properties LLC, a Texas-based company whose license expired in 2022. He was registered as a real estate sales agent for four years through February 2023, records show, Reuters reported.
Law enforcement searching Jabbar’s last address
Law enforcement officers closed off a road leading to a Houston residence that records indicate was a recent address of Jabbar.
The white mobile home was behind a gate and in a small neighborhood where goats and ducks were roaming the grass.
The agency urges anyone with information on Jabbar to contact 1-(800)-CALL-FBI.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.