Law enforcement agencies are expanding their investigation into the New Year attack New OrleansBourbon Street killed at least 15 people and injured dozens more in the early hours of Wednesday.
Municipal and federal authorities said the army the veteran — identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42 — was “hell hell” to kill as many people as possible. The suspect drove a pickup truck around a parked police car, which served as a barricade, and plowed into the revelers, officials said.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said at a news conference Wednesday that the security bollards were not working at the time because they were in the process of being replaced for the upcoming Super Bowl. He confirmed that the suspect drove down the sidewalk to get around a police car blocking the intersection.
The suspect mowed down dozens of people in a three-block stretch of the world-famous street as he fired into the crowd, police said.
The alleged assailant then exited the damaged vehicle armed with an assault rifle and fired at police, county officials said. Jabbar was also with a gun, sources told ABC News.
Officers returned fire, killing Jabbar, a US-born citizen of Texas, sources said. At least two police officers were injured, one was shot and the other officer was hit by the truck, authorities said.
Police officers sit on horseback near the scene where a man driving a truck was killed in an attack on New Year’s Eve celebrations in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 1, 2025.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
Althea Duncan, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said investigators do not believe Jabbar acted alone.
“We don’t believe Jabbar was solely responsible,” Duncan said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “We’re aggressively taking down everyone first, including his most known members. That’s why we need the public’s help. We’re asking if anyone has had contact with Shamsud-Din Jabbar in the last 72 hours when you contacted us.”
Duncan also said improvised explosive devices and other weapons were found inside the truck used in the attack. He said two more IEDs were found and made safe in the French Quarter.
The IEDs found in and around the scene on Bourbon Street were determined to be viable, and investigators were looking for more in the city’s French Quarter, several police officers told ABC News.
The FBI said two devices were recovered and made safe. Crude pipe bombs filled with coils and nails were found at the scene along with a grenade, sources said.
New Orleans police have reviewed surveillance video showing the setting of potential explosive devices before the vehicle attack, leading them to believe the suspect did not act alone, sources said. According to the investigators, they are working urgently to identify and arrest the people seen on the camera.
The FBI offices in New Orleans and Houston released statements late Wednesday announcing the manhunt in connection with the attack.
“FBI special agents and our law enforcement partners are conducting court-authorized search warrants in New Orleans and other states,” the FBI’s New Orleans field office said in a statement, adding that they planned to hand over the New Orleans crime scene. to local authorities by Thursday morning.
Meanwhile the FBI in Houston posted on X that they and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office were “continuing a search of a court-authorized location near the intersection of Hugh Road and Crescent Peak Drive.”
“At this time, no arrests have been made, and FBI personnel will remain on the scene for several more hours,” the post continued.
Law enforcement vehicles and people stand near where a vehicle drove into a crowd during New Year’s celebrations in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 1, 2025.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
Authorities are also working to determine whether there is a connection between the New Orleans attack and the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Las Vegas hotel in Nevada on Wednesday, which they are investigating as a possible act of terror, an official said.
The Cybertruck that exploded was rented through the Turo app, as was the truck used in the New Orleans attack, sources told ABC News.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Houston FBI and the Harris County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office posted a message on social media that “law enforcement activity is currently underway near the intersection of Hugh Road and Crescent Peak Drive in north Houston.” The attack on New Orleans.
“We have secured a perimeter in that area and are asking people to avoid the area,” the statement said. “FBI Houston personnel and specialized teams will be on scene for several hours. This activity is related to this morning’s attack in New Orleans, but due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, no further information can be released.
President Joe Biden, meanwhile, condemned what he called a “horrific act” in addressing the attack in New Orleans on Wednesday night at his presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland.
Biden said he was told by the FBI that “just hours before the attack (Jabbar) posted videos on social media that he was inspired by ISIS, expressing his desire to kill.”
Biden also said that “law enforcement and the intelligence community” were investigating whether there was a “possible link” between the New Orleans attack and the Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas.
“So far, there’s nothing to report on that score,” Biden said.
Biden said the New Orleans suspect was “an American citizen, born in Texas. He served in the United States Army on active duty for many years. He also served in the Army Reserve until a few years ago.”
The FBI is reviewing the videos Biden referred to in his remarks, which appear to have been recorded while the suspect was driving from Texas to Louisiana, law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC News.
The videos are dark, so the suspect can’t be seen, but he can be heard talking about his divorce and his desire to kill family members before ultimately deciding to carry out the Bourbon Street attack, according to county officials.
The suspect is also heard talking about ISIS, sources said.
Undated photo of Shamsud-Din Jabbar.
FBI
New Orleans Coroner Dwight McKenna released a statement Wednesday evening: “So far, 15 people are dead.”
“All autopsies will take several days to complete. After the autopsies are completed and we speak with the next of kin, we will release the identifications of the victims,” McKenna’s statement continued.
Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter told ABC News on Wednesday evening that the death toll in the riots had risen from 10 to 15. He said 25 other people were hospitalized with injuries.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
