Friday, January 03, 2025 - The suspect in the deadly New Orleans attack on New Year’s Day “proclaimed his support for ISIS” and made chilling threats to kill his family in videos recorded ahead of the massacre, the FBI confirmed.
Christopher Raia, the FBI’s deputy assistant director of its
counter-terrorism division, said at a press conference on Thursday, January 2
that they are reviewing disturbing videos of the suspect, 42-year-old Army
veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, where he discussed plans to kill his family in
recordings made before the attack.
New Year’s celebrations in New Orleans ended in tragedy when
the suspected terrorist drove into a crowd of revellers, killing at least 14
innocent people and injuring more than 30 others. The suspect was pronounced
dead at the scene after a shoot-out with police.
Raia shared a timeline of the suspect’s movements before
carrying out the attack, detailing how he planted two IED devices in coolers in
the bustling area before he rammed into the crowd in a pickup truck on Bourbon
Street at around 3:15 a.m.
The FBI in its statement confirmed he had an ISIS flag in
his truck as he plowed into the crowd.
Raia said there was “no definitive link” between the New
Orleans attack and the Tesla Cybertruck blast in Las Vegas after earlier
reports that investigators were probing a possible connection. He also updated
that investigators no longer believe the suspect had accomplices.
The suspect, 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, was a U.S. citizen from Texas who was “100 percent inspired by ISIS,” Raia told the press conference on Thursday, adding that Jabbar said in video footage that he joined the terror group before this summer.
A timeline of the suspect’s whereabouts was given by Raia at
the press conference, where he confirmed Jabbar collected the rented pickup
truck on December 30 and drove from his home in Houston, Texas on the evening
of December 31 to New Orleans in Louisiana.
Sometime between New Year’s Eve and the early hours of New
Year’s Day, the suspect planted two IED devices in coolers which were both
functional. They were later rendered safe, Raia confirmed.
The suspect exhibited “very intentional behaviour” when he
ploughed into the crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street, New Orleans Police
Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said at a press conference
“This man was trying to run
over as many people as he could,” she said.
This particular terrorist drove around onto the sidewalk and
got around the hard target. We did have a car there. We had barriers there. We
had officers there. And they still got around,” she said later in the day.
After crashing into the crowd, he exited his vehicle and
fired at police officers, striking two. Both officers are in stable condition,
Kirkpatrick said.
Law enforcement returned fire and the suspect was pronounced
deceased at the scene, the FBI said.
FBI Investigators on Thursday said they are reviewing a
series of disturbing footage where the suspect revealed plans to kill his
family and “proclaimed his support for ISIS”, Raia confirmed at the press
conference.
The footage was filmed at night while the suspect was
driving from his home in Houston to New Orleans.
Videos were time-stamped at 1:29 a.m. and again at 3:02 a.m.
on January 1, Raia said. In the footage, Jabbar explained how he originally
planned to harm his family and friends, but worried the news headlines would
not focus on the “war between the believers and disbelievers,” Raia added.
In the videos Jabbar referred to dreams that he had about
becoming inspired to join the terror group, officials told CNN.
According to ABC News, Jabbar served in human resources and
information technology roles in the Army from 2007 to 2015, during which he
deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010.
He continued to work as an IT specialist in the Army Reserve
from 2015 to 2020, the spokesperson said. His listed jobs were not direct
combat roles.
Jabbar was honourably discharged from the Army after he was
caught drunk-driving on base, the Washington Post reported. He was charged in
February 2015 and pleaded guilty.
The suspect had earlier enlisted in the Navy, in August
2024, though he never went to boot camp and was discharged from the delayed
entry program one month later, according to a Navy spokesperson.
In a resurfaced YouTube video posted in 2020, Jabbar says he
was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, and spent a decade working in the U.S.
military before becoming a Realtor in the Houston area.
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