At 3:15 a.m. on Wednesday, January 1, Shamsud Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old man, drove through a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. 14 victims were killed and 35 were injured, including two police officers. Jabbar sped around a police blockade on Canal Street and drove straight down Bourbon. Jabbar rented a truck in Houston on December 30 and used it to execute the attack. Guns and firearms, as well as an Islamic State flag, were later found in the vehicle. Police also found two explosive devices left in coolers in the surrounding area, but they did not go off due to malfunctions with the detonator, investigators said.
This attack was unrelated to the Las Vegas cyber truck explosion that happened the same day, according to the FBI.
Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas, is believed to have acted alone in the attack, and was vocal about his support for the Islamic State group through social media. In five updates Jabbar posted to Facebook earlier that night, he detailed his plans for the attack. According to the FBI, Jabbar left a last will and testament, and originally planned to hurt his family and friends. However, he was concerned that news headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers.” Jabbar’s brother told the Associated Press that Jabbar had been isolated for the past few years. Jabbar joined the U.S. army in 2007 and served on active duty from 2009 to 2010. In 2015, he transferred to the Army Reserve and left the military five years later.
In 2022, Jabbar became entangled in legal trouble regarding the finances of his divorce.
“It’s completely contradictory to who he was and how his family and his friends know him,”Jabbar’s brother said. A former friend of Jabbar’s described him as quiet and reserved, often avoiding trouble.
Bourbon Street reopened on the afternoon of Thursday, January 2. The Sugar Bowl College Football Playoff game between the University of Notre Dame and the University of Georgia was postponed by a day as a result of the attack.
In the aftermath of the attack, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell offered a vote of confidence that the city will learn from this experience and continue to entertain.
“New Orleans is not only ready for game day today, but we’re ready to continue to host large-scale events in our city,” she said. “Because we are built to host at every single turn.”