Everything we know about New Orleans terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar from sinister videos to army past
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Shamsud-Din Jabbar was shot and killed by officers after murdering 15 people in a harrowing terrorist attack. The military veteran, 42, ploughed his truck down a crowded New Orleans street in the early hours of New Year's Day. Jabbar, who was born in Houston, Texas, had an ISIS flag strapped to his rented Ford F-150 Lightning EV truck, and was "hell-bent on creating the carnage and damage that he did", according to a witness.
Police have described the act as "very intentional". New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said: "This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could." Jabbar was also armed and fired on law enforcement, injuring two officers, on the busy Bourbon Street, where revellers were welcoming 2025.
Witness Zion Parsons, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi, said he saw the truck "barrelling through, throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air". Mr Parsons, whose friend Nikyra Dedeaux was among those people killed, said: "Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering.".
It has since emerged that Jabbar lived in a run-down caravan park in Houston where he kept sheep, geese and goats. The community mostly houses Muslim immigrants, the New York Post reports. A neighbour told the paper Jabbar was a "simple person" who kept to himself. They said: "[He was] pretty quiet…Just walking, [he would say] 'hello,' 'hola,' and that was it.".
The terrorist was reportedly twice divorced and worked as an IT specialist. He served in the Army for more than a decade and was deployed to Afghanistan, stationed there from February 2009 to January 2010. His service record details extensive military experience, eventually becoming staff sergeant when he left the military.
