Shamsud-Din Jabbar: US Army Veteran Behind New Orleans Terror Attack That Killed At Least 15, FBI Probes ISIS Links

At least 15 people were killed and dozens suffered injuries after a terrorist drove a car into a crowd and then open fired in the southern US city of New Orleans on New Year's Day. 

The FBI has identified the suspect in the New Orleans shooting-ramming attack as a US Army veteran who served in Afghanistan.

Officials said that the suspect had an ISIS flag on his truck and may have received assistance in carrying out the attack.

Multiple people were also injured in the New Year's Day attack in the busy French Quarter, which the FBI is investigating as a terrorist act.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the attacker, initially rammed his truck into a crowd before opening fire, killing 15 people and injuring at least 30. He was also killed in a shootout with police after the incident.

The investigators found guns and what appeared to be an improvised explosive device in the vehicle, along with other devices.

The ISIS flag was found on the vehicle’s trailer hitch, news agency AP reported.

US President Joe Biden confirmed that the FBI found videos posted by Jabbar on social media hours before the attack.

In these videos, he said he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressed a desire to kill.

According to reports, the suspect spoke in the recordings about aspirations to join ISIS.

CNN also reported that Jabbar discussed his divorce in the videos and initially planned to gather his family for a "celebration" with the intent to kill them. He ultimately abandoned this plan, claiming instead to have joined ISIS.

"We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates," an FBI officer told reporters, adding that investigators were looking into a "range of suspects".

Public records reveal that Jabbar worked in real estate in Houston.

In a video, he described himself as a Beaumont native, a city approximately 130 km east of Houston, and shared details of his decade-long military career as a human resources and IT specialist.

Jabbar served as a regular soldier from March 2007 to January 2015, transitioning to the Army Reserve until July 2020.

He was deployed to Afghanistan between February 2009 and January 2010, finishing his service with the rank of staff sergeant.

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