New Orleans suspect Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar is said to have had an ISIS flag inside his car when it careered into a group of people celebrating New Year’s Eve.
The FBI confirmed Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar was the suspect who drove into a group of New Orleans revellers, killing 15 people, in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
It added he was driving a Ford pick-up truck "which appears to have been rented". "An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organisations," the statement read.
It confirmed weapons and a potential IED (improvised explosive device) were also located in the vehicle. "Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter," it added.
"The FBI’s Special Agent Bomb Technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable and they will work to render those devices safe."
Investigators have reviewed video showing three men and a woman placing an improvised explosive device in connection with the car attack that killed at least 15 people in New Orleans’ French Quarter, according to a Louisiana State Police bulletin.
The revelation could help explain why officials at a Wednesday news conference said that they were aggressively hunting for additional suspects and did not believe the driver of the pickup truck, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, acted alone.
American Jabbar, who was from Beaumont, Texas before moving to Houston, said on a YouTube video he travelled with the military for 10 years as a human resources specialist. He listed one job as ‘ technology operations manager’ in the US Army Reserve.
The 42-year-old was previously a real estate agent. Local records in Texas show the suspect was charged many years ago with two minor crimes. In 2002, he was arrested in Katy, Texas, for misdemeanour theft. Three years later, he was arrested by Beaumont police for driving with an invalid license, also a misdemeanour.
At least 15 New Year revellers were killed and 35 more injured after the alleged "hellbent" terrorist ploughed a pickup truck into a packed crowd on New Orleans’s world-famous party hub. The horror unfolded in the early hours of Wednesday morning, leaving a scene of chaos and carnage that witnesses likened to a battlefield.
FBI agents in New Orleans today
It emerged metal barriers installed to prevent a ramming attack in New Orleans "were not up" at the time of the rampage. Jimmy Cothran, a witness to the rampage, described how partygoers were not protected on the city’s famous Bourbon Street.
New Orleans officials had taken measures to prevent a copycat of the ISIS 2016 Nice lorry attack, which left 86 people dead, but the work was not complete. Cothran said the steel mechanical barricades were not erected or positioned before the vehicle attack.
"Those barricades were not up, period," he said. "They had the flimsy orange ones you could just push over with your finger. We actually thought it was kind of odd."
The carnage unfolded around 3.15am, when the driver rammed a rented electric F150 white Ford truck into partygoers celebrating the arrival of 2025. As police approached the pickup, the man opened fire, shooting two officers before being killed in a hail of return fire.
The suspect is said to have had an ISIS flag inside the car
A picture of the dead driver was later seen showing the man wearing “fatigues”. The vehicle was registered to a 42-year-old man in Houston, Texas, and had crossed the US-Mexico border just two days ago.
The FBI has been drafted in to lead the investigation into the attack. The agency said: "An individual drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing a number of people and injuring dozens of others. The subject then engaged with local law enforcement and is now deceased.
"The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism."
In a chilling twist, investigators later uncovered what they believe to be improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at the scene. Alethea Duncan, Assistant Special Agent for the FBI’s New Orleans office, confirmed their discovery.
"There were improvised explosive devices that were found, and we are working on confirming if it’s a viable device or not," Duncan said. Bomb squads later detonated four suspicious devices in the area. The presence of explosives added a disturbing dimension to what Mayor LaToya Cantrell described as a "terrorist attack."
The scene of the crash
Addressing the city’s grief, she said: "We do know the city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack. I have been in direct contact with the White House, with Governor (Jeff) Landry, and, of course, a unified command who was present here."
Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick elaborated on the violence of the attacker. "It did involve a man driving a pickup truck down Bourbon Street at a very fast pace, and it was very intentional behaviour," she said. "This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could." Kirkpatrick clarified that impairment was not a factor in the incident.
"It was not a DUI situation," she said. "This was more complex and more serious based on the information we have right now."
Kirkpatrick added both officers were in stable condition, and those injured were transported to five hospitals across the city. Some were in a life-threatening condition.
The superintendent said of the killer: "He was hellbent on creating the carnage and damage that he did." She told how the killer drove around a police barrier before accelerating into the crowd, leaving the dead strewn across the road.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell
In the wake of the July 2016 vehicle ramming attack in Nice, France, the following year, New Orleans began installing several steel mechanical barricades in the French Quarter which can move into and out of position. In recent months, workers have been replacing old bollards with new removable stainless-steel ones along several streets, including where the attack unfolded.
Construction began in November and was scheduled to continue until next month. Bourbon Street, known as one of the largest New Year’s Eve party destinations in the world, was packed with thousands of locals and tourists when the attack occurred.
The area was particularly crowded ahead of the Sugar Bowl college football playoff game later in the day at the nearby Superdome. Witness Kevin Garcia, 22, described the moment of impact.
"All I seen was a truck slamming into everyone on the left side of Bourbon sidewalk," he said. "A body came flying at me."
Whit Davis, 22, from Shreveport, Louisiana, was leaving a nightclub when the truck struck. "Everyone started yelling and screaming and running to the back, and then we basically went into lockdown for a little bit," Davis said.
"When they finally let us out of the club, police waved us where to walk and were telling us to get out of the area fast. I saw a few dead bodies they couldn’t even cover up and tons of people receiving first aid."
Investigations into the tragedy are underway
Davis added police instructed those on the scene to put their phones away and leave immediately, underscoring the severity of the situation. Cothran, a New Orleans resident of 15 years, also described the harrowing aftermath he witnessed.
He told how he and his friend noticed "a lot was going on" on Bourbon Street, so they decided to go into a nearby nightclub. Within minutes, he said, a group of women ran in and pushed past the venue’s security guards to hide underneath tables.
Cothran said he and his friend "didn’t take any chances" at the sign of trouble and ran upstairs to the club’s balcony area. "When we got up there … it was just unimaginable casualty," he said of his view from the balcony.
"I mean, just the disfigurement and the bodies strewn, something you can’t unsee. You’ll never forget."
Cothran and his friend counted eight bodies, he said. He described the disturbing sight of bodies nearby, including a deceased woman who was "twisted up," a "crushed" man with "tyre tracks across his back," as well as a "young, small girl" who they earlier saw dancing in the street who was now "completely flat in the middle."
"Only a movie script could give you the images in my head," he said. Louisiana Governor Landry condemned the attack, calling it a "horrific act of violence."
Officials are coordinating with federal authorities to determine the motives and affiliations of the attacker. The FBI and other agencies were working to analyse the IEDs and uncover any links to broader terrorist networks.
The attack struck at the heart of the city’s cultural and economic heart. The French Quarter, a six-by-13-block area on the curving bank of the Mississippi River in which Bourbon Street is located, is a tourist magnet.
Superintendent Kirkpatrick noted most victims appeared to be locals rather than tourists. The attack is devastating for a city that thrives on hospitality.
The French Quarter’s crowded streets, typically filled with music, laughter, and celebration, were transformed into a scene of blood, horror and mourning. As New Orleans began to pick up the pieces, authorities urged residents and visitors to remain vigilant.
Bourbon Street remained closed last night as investigators combed through evidence and attempted to identify the attacker’s motivations.
Mayor Cantrell vowed that the city would not be defined by the violence. "This is a moment of tragedy, but it is also a moment to come together as a city," she said. "We will honour the victims and support their families while ensuring justice is served."
President Joe Biden was informed about the incident and offered federal support for the investigation. However, Donald Trump used the deaths for political gain, blaming the US leader for the carnage before seeming to claim the driver was from abroad.
Taking to his Truth Social, the president-elect wrote: "When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before.
Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department.
"The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil."
According to FBI quarterly data released last year, New Orleans has seen a decline in violent crimes.
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