New Orleans truck attack suspect inspired by Islamic State terrorist group

January 03, 2025 02:09pm ET

At least 15 people are dead and dozens injured in New Orleans after a driver plowed a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street, police and city officials said. The FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism.

Covered by: Chris Pandolfo, Bradford Betz, Louis Casianoand Sarah Rumpf-Whitten

Fast Facts:

At least 14 people were killed and dozens injured after a driver plowed a car into a large crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street in New Orleans in the early morning on New Year’s Day
The FBI identified the driver as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas and Army veteran who was inspired by the Islamic State
The FBI has said it is investigating Wednesday’s attack as an act of terrorism and believes Jabbar acted alone
Jabbar was killed in a brief shootout with police after crashing his vehicle

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Coverage for this event has ended.

January 2nd

PINNED

Half-sibling of alleged New Orleans attacker says brother was radicalized, struggled to find himself

Fox News spoke with Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s half-brother, Abdur Rahim-Jabbar, in Beaumont, Texas. (Abdur Rahim-Jabbar)

The half-brother of the terrorist suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar blamed radicalization for the attack on New Year’s Day in New Orleans.

Fox News spoke with Abdur Rahim-Jabbar in Beaumont, Texas, where they grew up alongside three additional siblings.

Abdur said that they grew up Muslim, along with his whole family. He said that Jabbar stepped away from Islam, but found his way back following his 2022 divorce.

Jabbar struggled to find himself throughout his life, his half-brother told Fox News. He said that his half-brother joined the army to “find something, to set him straight, ground him, and maybe find a viable career path.”

Following Jabbar’s two divorces, his brother said that he was “looking for some type of guidance.”

His half-brother blamed radicalization for the attack and said that he did not see any signs prior to the attack, as well as expressing his condolences for the 15 lives lost.

He said this “was not a direct reflection of his brother and the Muslim community.”

Fox News’ Brooke Taylor contributed to this report.

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January 2nd

FBI says it was at New Orleans terror suspect’s Texas home ‘all night’ before leaving

Authorities patrol Bourbon Street as it is reopened in New Orleans, Louisiana on Thursday, January 2, 2024. Multiple people are dead and dozens are injured after a man rammed his car into crowds of New Year’s Eve revelers on Bourbon Street on Wednesday. Kat Ramirez for (Fox News Digital)

The FBI said agents were at the Texas home of Shamsud Din Jabbar before leaving and releasing the scene, following video footage posted to social media showing journalists rummaging through the residence on Thursday.

Photos of the inside of Jabbar’s mobile home in a majority-Muslim neighborhood in north Houston revealed multiple copies of the Quran, a book on Christianity and a book about teaching children about Islam.

“Once the FBI releases the scene, the property owners can do with that property as they’d like,” an FBI spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “In this case, if they want to allow news crews in, they can.”

“We were there all night. That scene was cleared. We got what we needed,” the spokesperson said.

The owner of the property has allowed news crews in the past after police searches.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

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January 2nd

FBI says it was at New Orleans terror suspect’s Texas home ‘all night’ before leaving

“We were there all night. That scene was cleared. We got what we needed,” the spokesperson said.

The owner of the property has allowed news crews in the past after police searches.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

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January 2nd

After chants of ‘U-S-A!’ Notre Dame tops Georgia to win Sugar Bowl in New Orleans

Quarterback Riley Leonard #13 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish breaks free up the middle on a quarterback draw as Defensive Back KJ Bolden #4 of the Georgia Bulldogs defends during the Notre Dame Fighting Irish versus Georgia Bulldogs College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Thursday. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Fighting Irish are moving on in the College Football Playoff, as No. 7 Notre Dame took down No. 2 Georgia, 23-10, to earn their spot in the semifinals.

Notre Dame will now face No. 6 Penn State, who beat No. 3 Boise State, on Jan. 9 to determine who will head to the national championship game.

This game was supposed to be played on Wednesday night, but the horrific terror attack in New Orleans forced a postponement to Thursday afternoon. The Caesars Superdome was still packed for the matchup, where a moment of silence was had for those who were killed or injured by the senseless act of violence.

Chants of “U-S-A!” were also heard before the singing of the national anthem was heard throughout the stadium.

Once play began, the two teams showcased their suffocating defenses, as both were unable to find points on the scoreboard until the Bulldogs finally kicked a 41-yard field goal to make it 3-0 early in the second quarter.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Digital’s Scott Thompson.

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January 2nd

Former FBI special agent says Americans must ‘stay vigilant’ following Las Vegas, New Orleans attack

A former FBI special agent is calling on Americans to use caution when attending major national events after two deadly incidents happened back-to-back on New Year’s Day.

“Sadly, we’re going to continue to see these types of events occurring, whether they are ISIS-inspired or radical Islamic terrorist events or if they’re mass shootings or if they’re the CEO of UnitedHealthcare individual that just has lost his mind,” Nicole Parker, former FBI special agent and Fox News Contributor explained to Fox News Digital.

“With a lot of these events coming up, there’s just a lot of activity that’s going to be happening with large gatherings, large groups of people.”

Parker’s warnings come after a man, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, plowed a truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, killing over a dozen people and injuring dozens.

Hours after that deadly attack, a Tesla Cybertruck was blown up in front of the Trump Hotel Las Vegas, prompting fear and chaos to begin 2025. Parker said while these two events have been shocking and devastating, there has been a looming lead-up in our nation since the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre of the Hamas terror attacks on the Jewish State.

“There has been a lot of activity leading up to this moment. I would say for our country, beginning October 7th, from a terrorism perspective, that’s when things definitely changed,” Parker said.

“I think there was a lot of activity going on in the Middle East. A lot of these terrorist groups that people thought were gone, which frankly, they were. A lot of them were under the Trump administration. And then after the upheaval in the Middle East, I think it almost reignited a lot of activity and chatter,” she continued.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price.

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January 2nd

Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser criticizes NOLA leadership after Bourbon Street attack

Louisiana Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser speaks to the media during the Super Bowl Host Committee Handoff Press Conference on Feb. 12, 2024. (Photo by Marc Sanchez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser criticized New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell following the truck attack that killed at least 14 people in the city in the early hours on New Year’s Day.

In a series of interviews with local news outlets, Nungesser, a Republican, questioned the city’s leadership and said he was frustrated by “excuses” related to the barriers that were missing from the entrance to Bourbon Street, NOLA.com reported.

“I’ve held my tongue long enough,” Nungesser said of Cantrell. “Her lack of leadership is an embarrassment.”

“I’m a little angry at the fact that some things in that French Quarter we’ve been trying to do for years have not gotten done,” he told 4WWL.

Nungesser, who is reportedly the state’s top tourism official, has pushed in recent years to exert more state control over the French Quarter.

In response to his remarks, Cantrell’s office told the newspaper that it was too early to cast blame only a day after the deadly attack.

“The City of New Orleans will not be distracted by outside commentary and welcomes everyone to join the positive efforts of the unified command partners,” Cantrell Deputy Press Secretary Kourtney Williams said in the statement.

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January 2nd

New Orleans attack could embolden ISIS to radicalize other Americans, experts say

Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s New Year’s massacre in New Orleans, carried out with a pickup truck flying an ISIS flag, could embolden the terrorist organization to radicalize more Americans, experts told Fox News Digital.

Jabbar’s younger brother told The New York Times he and his Army veteran brother were raised Christian in Beaumont, Texas, before the now-deceased attacker converted to Islam as an adult.

“What he did does not represent Islam,” the younger brother said. “This is more some type of radicalization, not religion.”

Retired FBI agents Scott Duffey and Chris Swecker told Fox News Digital Wednesday’s attack could embolden ISIS, other terrorist groups or individuals who have been radicalized.

“This is a time where ISIS is under extreme stress, and their existence is being threatened in Syria and elsewhere. It would make sense for them to double down on their message to radicalize Americans to put them into action and activate any cells that they have in place,” Swecker said.

Before his rampage in New Orleans, Jabbar posted several videos on Facebook declaring his support for ISIS, the FBI said at a news conference Thursday.

“In the first video, Jabbar explains he only planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers,’” FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said.

ISIS and other terrorist organizations often use social media to recruit new members, experts said.

“ISIS and other foreign adversaries use all sorts of social media platforms to spread anti-American ideologies, rhetoric and propaganda,” Duffey said. “It’s free speech and designed to slowly convert young people to start questioning their American and religious ideals.

“It starts off (with) soft messaging to attract people into their thought process,” he added. “Links are often provided that lead people to additional messages … sowing division and distrust of government in young impressionable minds.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Digital’s Christina Coulter.

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January 2nd

New Orleans attacker had ‘remote detonator’ for explosives in French Quarter, Biden says

New Orleans attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar acted alone and planted “remote detonator ” explosives inside coolers in two nearby locations in the French Quarter, just a few hours before he drove a pickup truck at a high rate of speed into a crowd of people celebrating New Year’s on Bourbon Street, President Biden said at a news conference Thursday.

“We have no information that anyone else was involved in the attack,” Biden said during a news conference about his administration’s 235 judicial confirmations. “They’ve established that the attacker was the same person who planted the explosives in those ice coolers in two nearby locations in the French Quarter, just a few hours before he rammed into the crowd with his vehicle. They assessed he had a remote detonator in his vehicle to set off those two ice chests.”

Biden stated that federal agents are investigating potential links to the Las Vegas explosion, also probed as a terror attack, and urged them to “accelerate” their efforts. Fourteen people were killed, and Jabbar died in a shootout with police.

“As of now, they’ve just been briefed,” Biden said. “They have not found any evidence of such a connection thus far. I’ve directed them to keep looking.”

The FBI identified Jabbar as the driver who crashed a rented truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The bureau told congressional lawmakers on Thursday that it had zero information about Jabbar prior to his attack.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph.

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January 2nd

Tom Homan warns US national security ‘in grave danger’ after New Orleans attack, Tesla explosion

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar” Tom Homan issued a warning about the state of U.S. national security following the terror attack in New Orleans and the Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day.

In an interview on “America Reports” on Thursday, the former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director said the United States is in imminent danger as the southern border remains vulnerable to national security.

“We’re not out of the woods,” Homan said. “This country is in grave danger. We need to secure that border, and despite what’s happened in the last two days in Las Vegas and in New Orleans, this administration is not stopping. They’re still releasing thousands of people every week… without proper vetting.”

“We’ve got a record number of known gotaways. Over 2 million people entered this country. We don’t know who they are or where they came from or what their purpose was for coming to this country,” he continued.

Homan said he looked forward to President-elect Donald Trump retaking “power” to “secure this border and protect our national security.”

His warning came after the suspect identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar with an ISIS flag plowed into dozens at a New Year’s parade on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 30. He was killed in a shootout with police.

In addition, authorities had been investigating a potential military connection between Jabbar and the Las Vegas suspect, who law enforcement identified to The Associated Press as Matthew Livelsberger. Livelsberger is suspected of being the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that blew up outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day.

The truck contained gasoline and camp fuel containers, as well as large firework mortars, according to officials.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Digital’s Yael Halon.

Posted by Louis Casiano