The assailant linked to the white Ford F-150 Lightning vehicle that shook Bourbon Street in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter on New Year’s Day has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Army veteran and US citizen from Texas.
The attacker, as reported was apparently inspired by the Islamic State group, drove into large crowds in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing 15 and injuring at least 30.
Records indicate that Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar has more than a decade’s worth of experience in the military. Media reports mentioned that he served in the Army from March 2007 until January 2015 and deployed once to Afghanistan, before serving in the Army Reserve until July 2020, according to a US Army release.
He was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” according to police, who also called the incident “very intentional.”
Several reports and a law enforcement official added that the suspect had “pledged allegiance to ISIS” in several videos on social media the night before the attack. He appeared to be driving in the videos, addressed to his family.
The fact that he is dangerously instable could be gauged by the video where he expressed his wish to have a divorce and intentions to have a “celebration” with his family with the goal of murdering them. Reportedly, he then retracted his plans and claimed to have joined the ISIS.
President Joe Biden, in his last days in office, said that investigations are on to ascertain whether the terrorist attack is connected to the later-day bombing of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas, but they have not yet found any connection between the two incidents.
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