In a suspicious deadly attack At the New Year’s party New Orleans He has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US-born citizen and US Army veteran from Texas, according to the FBI.
At least 15 people were killed and more than two dozen injured when a man drove a Ford pickup truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street at high speed early Wednesday, multiple police sources and Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter told ABC News.
Authorities are working to determine whether the slain suspect had any affiliation with terrorist organizations after an ISIS flag was found tied to the truck’s trailer, the FBI said.
After driving through the crowd for a three-block stretch, the suspect allegedly got out of the truck with an assault rifle and fired at police, authorities briefed on the incident told ABC News. Police said officers opened fire and killed the suspect. At least two police officers were wounded by gunfire, officials said.
Police investigators surround a white pickup truck that crashed into a work elevator on January 1, 2025 in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Matthew Hinton/AFP via Getty Images
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “It wasn’t a DUI situation. This is more complex and serious.”
According to him, the driver “wanted to cause carnage and damage”.
Two IEDs have been found and made safe in connection with the incident, according to the FBI, which is leading the investigation.
Investigators found homemade pipe bombs at the scene of the Bourbon Street attack, law enforcement sources told ABC News. The crude devices contained coils and nails, sources said. Authorities also found a grenade, among the items being tested for viability, the sources said.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the horrific event as a “terrorist attack” and said the FBI was investigating it as an act of terror.
The suspect is not believed to be “solely responsible” for the attack, according to the FBI, which said they are looking for clues to identify any of his associates.
Carter told ABC News that the suspect appears to have “lived or spent some time” in the New Orleans area.
“I understand there may be some identification that indicates the suspect had a local residence and so the information is being tested,” he said.
The vehicle had Texas license plates, according to Carter.
The truck used in the attack was reportedly a Ford F-150 Lightning, an electric vehicle. It appears the truck was rented through the Turo app, a car-sharing company, according to the truck’s owner, Rodrigo Diaz.
Diaz told ABC News that he rented the truck to a person through the app and is speaking with the FBI. He declined further comment.
Diaz’s wife, Dora Diaz, told ABC News that she and her husband are devastated by the incident.
“My husband rents cars through the Turo app. I can’t tell you anything else. I’m here with my kids, and this is devastating,” said Dora Diaz.
ABC News has reached out to Turo.
