The FBI has shared new images of Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the New Year’s Day truck attack in New Orleans, which killed 14 people and injured many others.
Surveillance footage shows a man believed to be Jabbar, 42, walking along Dauphine Street near Governor Nicholls Street in the French Quarter at around 2 a.m., just hours before the attack... Continue reading here ▶
He was wearing a brown trench coat and was less than a mile from the site of the tragedy on Bourbon and Canal streets.
At 3:15 a.m., Jabbar drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, where thousands were celebrating the New Year. After the attack, he was killed in a shootout with police.
The FBI also released an image of a cooler containing an improvised explosive device (IED), which Jabbar is believed to have placed in the French Quarter before the attack. Investigators believe Jabbar, a military veteran from Texas, acted alone, although they initially suspected he had accomplices.
Jabbar had flown an ISIS flag from his truck and posted videos online pledging allegiance to the group. According to the FBI, he initially planned to target family and friends but changed his mind to draw media attention to what he called “a war between believers and disbelievers.”
The victims of the attack included a former Princeton football player, a young mother teaching her child to read, a high school graduate preparing for nursing school, and a father of two celebrating the New Year with his cousin.
The FBI is asking for the public’s help with any information, photos, or videos related to the attack, Jabbar, or the coolers he placed.
